AUTHORS

Julia F. W. Gale Bureau of Economic

Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, Uni-
versity of Texas at Austin, J. J. Pickle Research
Campus, Building 130, 10100 Burnet Road,
Austin, Texas 78758-4445;
julia.gale@beg.utexas.edu
Julia Gale obtained a Ph.D. in structural ge-
ology fromExeter University in 1987. She taught
structural geology and tectonics for 12 years
at the University of Derby. She moved to the
University of Texas at Austin in 1998, working
as a research associate first in the Depart-
ment of Geological Sciences and then the Bu-
reau of Economic Geology. Her interests in-
clude fracture characterization in carbonate
and shale hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Robert M. Reed Bureau of Economic
Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, Uni-
versity of Texas at Austin, J. J. Pickle Research
Campus, Building 130, 10100 Burnet Road,
Austin, Texas 78758-4445
Rob Reed is a research scientist associate at
the Bureau of Economic Geology. He received
his B.S. degree and his Ph.D. in geological sci-
ences from the University of Texas at Austin
and his M.S. degree in geology from the Uni-
versity of Massachusetts. His current research
focuses on various aspects of the microstruc-
ture of rocks.
Jon Holder Department of Petroleum
and Geosystems Engineering, University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Jon Holder received a Ph.D. in physics from
the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
(UIUC) in 1968. He was a member of the Ge-
ology Department faculty at UIUC from 1969
until 1981, teaching and conducting research
in areas of rock physics. He worked in geo-
technical research in the private sector from
1981 to 1989 and then joined the research staff
in the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
at the University of Texas at Austin, where he
continues to do research in mechanical behavior
in porous media, with emphasis on fracture
mechanics.
Natural fractures in the
Barnett Shale and their
importance for hydraulic
fracture treatments
Julia F. W. Gale, Robert M. Reed, and Jon Holder
ABSTRACT
Gas production from the Barnett Shale relies on hydraulic frac-
ture stimulation. Natural opening-mode fractures reactivate dur-
ing stimulation and enhance efficiency by widening the treatment
zone. Knowledge of both the present-day maximum horizontal
stress, which controls the direction of hydraulic fracture propaga-
tion, and the geometry of the natural fracture system, which we
discuss here, is therefore necessary for effective hydraulic fracture
treatment design.
We characterized natural fractures in four Barnett Shale cores
in terms of orientation, size, and sealing properties. We measured a
mechanical rock property, the subcritical crack index, which gov-
erns fracture pattern development. Natural fractures are common,
narrow (<0.05 mm; <0.002 in.), sealed with calcite, and present
in en echelon arrays. Individual fractures have high length/width
aspect ratios (>1000:1). They are steep (>75j), and the dominant
trend is west-northwest. Other sets trend north-south. The narrow
fractures are sealed and cannot contribute to reservoir storage or
enhance permeability, but the population may follow a power-law
size distribution where the largest fractures are open. The subcritical
crack index for the Barnett Shale is high, indicating fracture clus-
tering, and we suggest that large open fractures exist in clusters
spaced several hundred feet apart. These fracture clusters may en-
hance permeability locally, but they may be problematic for hydrau-
lic fracture treatments. The smaller sealed fractures act as planes
of weakness and reactivate during hydraulic fracture treatments.
Because the maximum horizontal stress trends northeast-southwest
and is nearly normal to the dominant natural fractures, reactivation
widens the treatment zone along multiple strands.
AAPG Bulletin, v. 91, no. 4 (April 2007), pp. 603622 603
Copyright #2007. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Manuscript received June 1, 2006; provisional acceptance August 24, 2006; revised manuscript received
October 13, 2006; final acceptance November 1, 2006.
DOI:10.1306/11010606061
INTRODUCTION
The Mississippian Barnett Shale gas play in the Fort Worth Basin is
the largest gas field in Texas, with reserves exceeding 2.7 tcf (Mont-
gomery et al., 2005). Success in the Fort Worth Basin has increased
interest in the Barnett Shale elsewhere, for example, in the Permian
Basin (Figure 1). Other Mississippian and Devonian shales are also
being considered as possible Barnett-like plays. The geology of the
Barnett Shale and structure of the Fort Worth Basin have been de-
scribed by many workers, including Cheney (1940), Cheney and
Goss (1952), Henry (1982), and Martin (1982, and articles therein).
More recently, there have been contributions on geochemistry by
Pollastro et al. (2003) and Hill et al. (2007), on lithologic char-
acterization (Papazis, 2005), and on depositional setting and litho-
facies (Loucks and Ruppel, 2007). Production performance of the
Barnett Shale was evaluated by Frantz et al. (2005).
The terms Barnett Formation and Barnett Shale have both
been used formally. Barnett Shale as a name is misleading because
most of the Barnett Formation is a mudstone rather than shale
(Loucks and Ruppel, 2007) but we adopt it here because of its
wider usage. In lithologic descriptions, we use the termmudstone
to describe a relatively nonfissile clastic rock containing dominantly
noncalcareous, clay-size particles, in contrast to shale, which is char-
acteristically fissile because of higher clay content. In the general
discussion of the play type, however, we use the term shale to
include both shale and mudstone.
An overall evaluation of the Barnett Shale play was summa-
rized most recently by Montgomery et al. (2005), who identified
several factors that make it unique compared with other gas-shale
plays. These include the great depth and high pressure of the res-
ervoir and the complex thermal history, which has influenced the
geochemistry of hydrocarbon generation and storage. Montgomery
et al. (2005), however, also stated that natural fractures do not ap-
pear to be essential for production and, in some cases, might reduce
well performance, giving the impression that natural fractures are
unimportant or undesirable. We do not concur with this general
finding, although we agree that there are circumstances where they
could be detrimental to well performance, for example, if natural
fractures are connected to the water in the underlying Ellenburger
Group. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the nature of
the natural fracture system in the Barnett Shale and explain why
natural fractures can be useful for improving hydraulic fracture treat-
ment efficiency and, thereby, gas production. Moreover, general prin-
ciples learned in the Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin might
be applicable elsewhere.
Two separate questions regarding natural fractures in the Bar-
nett Shale must be addressed. First, can they provide enhanced per-
meability or storage capacity for the reservoir? Second, do they
enhance or hinder hydraulic fracture treatments? In addressing the
first question, we show that whereas storage capacity of the natural
fracture system is low because most small fractures are sealed, it is
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
J. F. W. Gale thanks Bob Loucks and Steve Ruppel
for encouragement to work on the Barnett
Shale. Peggy Rijken did the subcritical testing.
Randy Marrett, Steve Laubach, and Jon Olson
provided the foundation for ideas concerning
fracture scaling and sealing and fracture pat-
tern evolution. In-situ stress data were obtained
from the World Stress Map, an open-access
database project of the Heidelberg Academy
of Sciences and Humanities and the Geophys-
ical Institute at Karlsruhe University. Helpful
reviews by Ron Hill, Ron Nelson, and Gary
Prost, together with editorial comments from
Ernie Mancini, helped us to improve the man-
uscript. The State of Texas Advanced Resource
Recovery program supported J. F. W. Gale. J.
Holder and R. M. Reed were supported by the
University of Texas Fracture Research and Appli-
cation Consortium. Additional support was pro-
vided in part by the John A. and Katherine G.
Jackson School of Geosciences and the Geology
Foundation at the University of Texas at Austin.
This article is published with permission of the
director of the Bureau of Economic Geology,
University of Texas at Austin.
604 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
possible that there are large, open fractures in widely
spaced clusters that may enhance permeability locally.
With respect to the second question, evidence is mount-
ing from microseismic monitoring of hydraulic frac-
ture propagation (e.g., Fisher et al., 2004; Warpinski
et al., 2005) that reactivation of the natural fracture
network improves efficiency of stimulation (Figure 2).
The method of completion in the Fort Worth Basin
Barnett Shale has evolved so that horizontal wells are
stimulated with low-proppant, high-flow-rate, water-
based hydraulic fracture treatments (Warpinski et al.,
2005). The wells are commonly drilled normal to the
expected hydraulic fracture propagation (normal to
the maximum horizontal stress, S
Hmax
) to maximize
Figure 1. Distribution of Barnett Shale and equivalents and Mississippian carbonates in the southern mid-continent (after S. C.
Ruppel, 2005, personal communication). Large structures are after Montgomery et al. (2005). Maximum horizontal stress (S
Hmax
)
directions derived from the World Stress Map (Tingay et al., 2006) are shown. S
Hmax
trends are consistently northeast-southwest in
the Fort Worth Basin, but are less consistent to the west in the Permian Basin because this region is at the modern-day stress
province boundaries of the mid-plate compressional province, the southern Great Plains province, and the Cordilleran extensional
province. Cores studied here are indicated by numbered circles: 1 = Mitchell Energy 2 T. P. Sims; 2 = United Texas 1 Blakely; 3 =
Houston Oil and Minerals MC-1 Johanson, Harold; 4 = Cities Service 1 St. Clair C.
Gale et al. 605
the volume stimulated by induced fractures. Natural
fractures, however, reactivate during treatment, widen-
ing the zone of stimulation. Characterization of the nat-
ural fracture system and local S
Hmax
is therefore highly
desirable to maximize the efficiency of hydraulic frac-
ture treatment design.
Published data fromthe World Stress Map (Tingay
et al., 2006) indicate a consistent northeast-southwest
trend for S
Hmax
in the northern part of the Fort Worth
Basin near Wise County (Figure 1), which is in agree-
ment with the known dominant hydrofracture prop-
agation trend. By contrast, little published information
on natural fracture attributes in the Barnett Shale exists,
although natural fractures are common. In this study,
we characterized natural fractures in terms of orienta-
tion, size, and sealing, and we measured a mechanical
rock property, the subcritical crack index, which governs
fracture pattern development. Our aim is to provide a
basis for investigating how natural fractures might af-
fect the play, with particular emphasis on the inter-
action with hydraulic fracture treatments.
Approach for Natural Fracture Characterization
Natural fracture data from the subsurface were ob-
tained from vertical cores. Because natural fractures in
the Barnett Shale are also mostly subvertical, we en-
countered a sampling problem where large fractures
Figure 2. Diagrammatic representation of hydraulic fracture growth showing why natural fracture systems are important for optimal
stimulation. (a) Hydraulic fracture growth proceeds northeast-southwest and reactivates natural fractures (dashed lines) trending west-
northwest east-southeast and north-south. Arrows indicate the propagation direction of hydraulic fractures. (b) Map of microseismic
data from Warpinski et al. (2005, reprinted with permission from the Society of Petroleum Engineers). (c) A sealed west-northwest
trending fracture and an open, unmineralized, northeast-trending, induced fracture in a disc from the T. P. Sims core.
606 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
are typically more widely spaced than the diameter of
a borehole and are rarely sampled. Smaller fractures in
the same set may be clustered, and the apparent local
intensity (fractures per unit volume, area, or scanline
length) of fractures observed at any sampling point in
a core or image log may not reflect the fracture inten-
sity away from the wellbore. Fractures may be more
or less intense than suggested by the sampling. Direct
evidence of fracture spacing is typically lacking. Proba-
bilistic methods using fracture data from vertical core
have had success in predicting average fracture spacing
where fractures are evenly spaced (Narr, 1996), but
they do not address the degree of fracture clustering.
To avoid the sampling problem, several workers
have used seismic attributes to measure anisotropy as-
sociated with fractures. Simon (2005) tried this ap-
proach in north Texas using new seismic attributes,
including azimuthal interval velocity, seismic volumet-
ric curvature, and interazimuth similarity. Open frac-
tures that correlated with fractures mapped using micro-
seismic data were detected. These fractures, orthogonal
to S
Hmax
, had been reactivated by hydraulic fracture
treatments. Thus, although the technique can detect
reactivated fractures and provides confirmation of such
reactivation, it cannot, at this stage, provide sufficient
detail to characterize the natural fracture system. More-
over, because it does not detect sealed, unreactivated
fractures, it cannot be used in advance of stimulation to
predict mechanical behavior of the reservoir.
An alternative approach is to use microfractures
that are abundant in core to predict macrofracture at-
tributes. We define a macrofracture as a fracture that
can be observed by the eye, whereas a microfracture re-
quires magnification greater than 10 to be detected. An
opening-mode fracture set comprises fractures across a
range of sizes. Within a set, orientation (Laubach, 1997)
and timing (Laubach, 2003) are consistent across the
range of scales, and intensity shows a size-dependent
power-law distribution (Marrett et al., 1999). Frac-
ture population attributes of porosity and permeability
(Marrett, 1996) and the sealing of opening-mode frac-
tures (Laubach, 2003) are also size dependent. We are
able to use these size-scaling relationships to predict
the attributes of large fractures from observations of
smaller ones in the cores. Additionally, an understand-
ing of opening-mode fracture growth has been devel-
oped by Olson (2004) through geomechanical mod-
eling using a measured rock property, the subcritical
crack index, as an input parameter (Holder et al., 2001).
We have synthesized these different aspects of fracture
evolution in case studies in sandstones (Laubach and
Gale, 2006) and carbonates (Gale, 2002; Gale et al.,
2004), and in this study, we apply a similar approach to
the Barnett Shale.
In describing fracture attributes, it is essential to
indicate the size range of fractures present. Fracture in-
tensity should be reported with reference to a partic-
ular size range, for example, 10 fractures per meter
greater than or equal to 1 mm (0.04 in.) wide. Average
spacing of fractures is the inverse of intensity and, again,
depends on the size of fractures being considered. In
the Barnett Shale, many sealed fractures having aper-
tures of less than 50 mm are part of the population. Al-
thoughthese donot contribute tothe permeability of the
reservoir, they are important planes of weakness that
tend to be reactivated by hydraulically induced frac-
tures. All natural fractures, including small sealed frac-
tures and large potentially open fractures, must there-
fore be taken into account when predicting hydraulic
fracture behavior.
Structural Geology of the Fort Worth Basin
The large-scale structure of the Fort Worth Basin con-
tains several arches and faults (Figure 1). These are
mostly associated with the late Paleozoic Ouachita orog-
eny. Possible mechanisms of fracture formation might
be deduced fromkinematic analysis of these large struc-
tures, together with burial-history data. It is generally
not valid, however, to link opening-mode fractures with
large structures on the basis of orientation alone. Equiv-
alence of timing, tied with sound mechanical reasons
for linking the structures, is required. Opening-mode
fractures can form readily under many different condi-
tions partly because rocks have low tensile strength.
Moreover, evidence of crack-seal texture in north-south
trending fractures indicates fracture growth proceeded
by multiple events. In the Fort Worth Basin, because of
the complex structure and the added possibility of hy-
drocarbon cracking and migration, there could be sev-
eral different mechanisms of fracture formation. For
this reason, although the major structures are presented
for the sake of context, we do not speculate on fracture
origin from the range of possibilities. Detail on fracture
orientation and relative timing is given where known,
but it is generally insufficient to pin down the cause of
fracturing.
In addition to the structures shown in Figure 1,
saglike features in the Barnett Shale have been de-
scribed and interpreted by Hardage et al. (1996) and
McDonnell et al. (2006) as being related to paleokarst
Gale et al. 607
collapse in the underlying Ellenburger Group. The sags
are bounded by circular fault systems, which connect
down to the Ellenburger Group. The sag zones are con-
sidered undesirable for gas production because of the
potential of the faults to connect into water in the Ellen-
burger Group. Locally, opening-mode fractures may
have developed around these faults, but they would be
a separate population from the regionally developed
opening-mode west-northwesttrending fractures that
are the subject of this article.
METHODS
Fracture Characterization
Natural fractures were analyzed in two Barnett Shale
cores fromWise County in the Fort Worth Basin (Mitch-
ell Energy 2 T. P. Sims and United Texas 1 Blakely)
one from Erath County (Cities Service 1 St. Clair C),
and one from McCullough County close to the Llano
uplift (Houston Oil and Minerals MC-1 Johanson, Har-
old) (Figure 1). Fracture dimensions and mineral fill
were recorded for individual fractures, and fracture pat-
tern characteristics were also noted. Of the cores stud-
ied, only the T. P. Sims core was oriented. Fracture ori-
entation information is therefore confined to this core,
although it is possible to determine angles between mul-
tiple sets in unoriented core. Core may be broken along
natural fracture planes; calcite crystals on the fracture
surface allow distinction between natural and induced
fractures. Previous work on natural fractures has been
included where appropriate. Specifically, fracture ori-
entation data from the T. P. Sims core were obtained
from an FMS (Formation MicroScanner) log by Hill
(1992).
Microscopy
Samples
Two samples from the T. P. Sims core, one from a
typical mudrock layer and one from a dolomitic layer,
were chosen for analysis. Some additional mudrock thin
sections were examined briefly for comparison with
observations made on the first mudrock sample. The
T. P. Sims core is from the lower unit of the Barnett
Shale. The cored interval starts 12.2 m (40 ft) below
the Forestburg limestone, extends for 44.2 m (145 ft),
and ends 35 m (115 ft) above the base of the lower
shale unit.
Instrumentation
Samples were examined using a variety of imaging and
analytical techniques. The dolomitic thin section was
first examined using cold-cathode cathodoluminescence
(CC-CL) microscopy, in which CC-CL images were
pairedwithtransmittedlight images. Cold-cathode catho-
doluminescence was done using a Technosyn MK-II sys-
tem operating at approximately 15 kV.
The scanning electron microscope (SEM)based
analytical methods used on the samples were second-
ary electron and backscattered electron imaging and
SEM-based cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL) imaging.
Energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to de-
termine elemental composition of minerals present in
the samples. All SEMimages were done on an FEI XL30
SEM equipped with an Oxford Instruments ISIS EDS
system and an Oxford Instruments MonoCL2 cathodo-
luminescence system. The SEM was operated at 15 or
20 kV and at large sample currents for CL imaging. Be-
cause of problems with persistent luminescence, in most
cases, SEM-CL imaging of carbonates requires acquir-
ing only shorter wavelength CLemissions, which is done
most easily by inserting a broadband, short-wavelength
(ultraviolet-blue) filter between the mirror and the
photomultiplier tube (Reed and Milliken, 2003).
Mechanical Rock Properties
Subcritical Crack Growth
Mechanical rupture of a material occurs when the mode I
(normal opening) stress intensity factor, K
I
, is equal to
the critical stress intensity factor or fracture toughness,
K
IC
, at which time the fracture propagates with a ve-
locity slightly belowthe shear-wave velocity. However,
fractures can also propagate at stresses well below this
level at velocities several orders of magnitude slower
than the rupture velocity. During this regime of crack
growth, the material is strained at levels below that nec-
essary for breaking bonds, but the strained bonds are
weaker and more prone to chemical attack (Lawn, 1975;
Atkinson and Meredith, 1981). The bonds are further
weakened and ultimately broken by thermally activated
chemical interactions. An empirical power law, intro-
duced by Charles (1958), provides a good correlation
between subcritical fracture velocity, V, and the stress
intensity factor (or, because of its proportionality to K
I
,
applied load, P):
V k
0
K
I
K
IC

n
AP
n
1
608 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
where n is the subcritical crack index, and k
0
and A are
constants. This is the defining equation for the subcriti-
cal index.
In tectonically stressed crustal rocks, subcritical crack
growth can be significant, and studies have shown that
fracture-spacing length distributions, connectivity, and
fracture aperture can be controlled by this process (Olson
et al., 2001). For low values of n (<20), computed nat-
ural fracture patterns exhibit small spacing relative
to bed thickness. At high values (n 80), fractures
are spatially arranged in widely spaced swarms or clus-
ters. Intermediate values (2080) result in more regu-
lar fracture spacing that is roughly proportional to
layer thickness. Discrete fracture flow modeling of
geomechanically generated fracture patterns has dem-
onstrated variations in effective permeability with sub-
critical index, primarily through its influence on frac-
ture length distributions (Philip et al., 2002; Rijken,
2005).
The subcritical index can be measured in the labo-
ratory (Atkinson and Meredith, 1981; Atkinson, 1984),
and values for a range of rocks and testing environ-
ments have been reported (Atkinson and Meredith,
1981; Holder et al., 2001; Rijken et al., 2002; Rijken,
2005). The experiments are conducted in ambient
laboratory conditions at zero depth. Theoretically, this
should not affect the subcritical crack index, whose gov-
erning equation is only marginally affected by confining
pressure. For most studies, including the present study,
values for the subcritical indices are determined from
measurements of load decay in a dual torsion beam con-
figuration at constant displacement (Williams and Evans,
1973). This technique is based on empirical evidence
that the effective specimen compliance, S, is a linear
function of crack length, a. This is equivalent to the
ratio of displacement normal to the plane of the test
specimen, y, to the normal load, P:
S y=P S
0
B a 2
In this expression, B is a constant; S
0
is compliance
when a = 0; and the crack velocity, V, is given by the
time derivative of a. For a constant normal displace-
ment, y
0
, the crack propagation velocity is determined
by the rate of change of the load, P.
V
C
P
2
@P
@t

3
where C is another constant. The crack velocity can
then be determined from numerical differentiation.
Subcritical Crack Index Measurement
Subcritical crack index measurements were made on
two samples fromthe T. P. Sims core. The core samples
were sliced parallel to bedding, and several test speci-
mens with dimensions of 2.5 cm5 cm1.5 mm(1
2 0.6 in.) were cut from the slices, polished on one
side, and grooved along the center of the nonpolished
surface.
Measurements of subcritical crack propagation were
conducted in the following test sequence:
1. The specimen is loaded in steps of approximately
0.23 kg (0.5 lb), holding the applied load constant
during each interval by means of a programmed step-
per motor.
2. When crack formation and propagation were indi-
cated by increases in vertical displacement of the
loading ram, further displacements were stopped.
3. The load was allowed to decay for approximately
10 min, attaining an approximately constant value.
Microsoft Excels SOLVE option was used to de-
termine the parameters from a least-squares fit of all
load decay data. This process is set up in an Excel tem-
plate, and the entire fitting procedure is conducted in a
few seconds.
RESULTS
A summary of fracture attributes for the four cores
examined is given in Table 1.
Fracture Characterization, T. P. Sims Core
All natural fractures in this core are sealed with calcite
and are typically present in en echelon groups (Figure 3).
Offsets between adjacent en echelon fractures are typi-
cally less than 5 mm (0.2 in.), and the sense of offset
may change within a group. Fractures range from less
than 50 mm to 0.265 mm (0.01 in.) in width in the
mudstone and up to 2.15 mm (0.08 in.) in a concretion
(Figure 4a). The tallest fractures extend up to 81 cm
(32 in.) in height before continuing out of the core, so
this represents a truncated value for height (Figure 4b).
True heights of the tallest fractures are not known. For
each fracture, the nature of upper and lower termina-
tions was recorded as being gradually tapered, abrupt at
bedding, abrupt at a concretion, or out of core. Of the
84 fractures measured in 110 ft (34 m) of core, 40%
of terminations were gradually tapered, 4% abrupt at
Gale et al. 609
bedding or at concretion, and 56%out of core. Mechani-
cal boundaries within the shale are most commonly
associated with changes in the carbonate content, but
carbonate layers are not always barriers to fractures.
Aperture-height relationships were plotted for all frac-
tures with a true measured height, but were distin-
guished on the basis of whether they terminated at a me-
chanical boundary or they gradually tapered (Figure 4c).
No correlation exists; fractures of a given aperture have
a wide range of heights.
Examples of induced fractures are present but
are distinguished from natural fractures by the absence
of calcite cement and, in the case of drilling-induced
petal centerline fractures, on the basis of geometry. Frac-
tures trend dominantly northeast-southwest (Hill, 1992)
(Figure 5a). One dip-slip fault trending 109j/55jSSW
was identified in the T. P. Sims (Hill, 1992). Other un-
oriented dip-slip faults with slickensides and calcite-
cemented breccias have been observed in other Bar-
nett Shale cores (Papazis, 2005).
Microfracture Analysis, T. P. Sims Core
Mineralized fractures range from 50 mm to 0.2 mm
(0.008 in.) width in the samples chosen for detailed
study. Macroscopically nonmineralized, apparently
induced fractures are also present in both. Minimal
micrometer-scale fracture porosity exists in the small
macrofractures. Bowker (2003), in trying to explain the
abundant Barnett Shale gas, yet low-permeability sug-
gested that natural microfractures might be present that
could enhance permeability. We see no evidence of
widespread open natural microfractures; fractures that
are present are sealed. Conversely, extensive SEM-based
examination of open, northeast-trending fractures in
both samples showed no evidence of mineralization.
Open microfractures in core samples are most likely
induced by drilling or core removal and handling. Ma-
terial present near the tips of these fractures is a mix-
ture of clay and barite, apparently drilling mud that
was not removed prior to epoxy impregnation.
Mudstone Layer
The mudstone sample is composed primarily of clay-
size quartz and feldspar with subsidiary dolomite, clay
minerals, organic material, pyrite, and microfossils and
fossil fragments. Two sets of fractures are present with-
in the mudstone sample (Figure 5b). One set trends
east-northeast and is apparently drilling induced. One
set trends northwest and is mineralized and, thus, nat-
ural. No unequivocal evidence of a second set of min-
eralized fractures has been observed in any of the mud-
stone core examined for this study. Fracture fill in
Barnett Shale mudstone fractures is mostly calcite.
Other phases are developed locally, near composi-
tional anomalies in the host rock, or near fracture tips.
Changes in type, amount, and proportion of mineral-
ization are common near fracture tips in other clastic
rocks (Laubach, 2003).
Table 1. Summary of Fracture Parameters Observed in Each of the Four Cores Studied*
Well Name
Core Length
Examined (ft)
Number of Natural
Fractures (All Sealed)
Fracture Kinematic
Aperture (Minimum and
Maximum Values, mm)
Maximum
Observed Fracture
Height (cm)
Number of
Fracture Sets
2 T. P. Sims 110 74 in shale <0.050.265 81.0** 1 in shale, at least 3
in dolomitic layer
10 in concretions 0.052.15 17.0 Unknown
1 Blakely 121 14 in Forestburg <0.050.95 68.0 2 in Forestburg
1 in shale <0.05 3.2 1
8 in concretions <0.050.4 6.0 Unknown
MC-1 Johanson 13 0 in shale
2 in concretions <1.00 1.5 Unknown
1 St. Clair C 23 3 in shale <0.05 9** 1
*Fracture aperture data are provided as maximum and minimum values. Kinematic aperture is the wall-to-wall distance across the fracture, including the sealed portion
and is a measure of the extension accommodated by each fracture. Because apertures may have a power-law distribution, mean values are not reported. Maximum
fracture heights are given. Those marked with double asterisks are lower estimates because the fracture continued out of the core. True fracture orientations are
only known for the T. P. Sims core, and these are discussed in the text, as are the details of fracture fill. The number of sets on the basis of relative orientation is
given. The number of sets in concretions is unknown because of their highly variable geometry and isolated nature. Fracture occurrence is not listed by depth or
facies because the sampling bias for recording vertical fractures in vertical cores makes this information misleading.
610 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
The west-northwesttrending macrofracture set
in the mudstone layer has an atypically large assem-
blage of fracture-lining minerals: calcite, quartz, albite,
pyrite, barite, and dolomite (Figure 6). Albite and quartz
dominate at the fracture tips. Away from the fracture
tips, calcite is the dominant fracture-filling cement.
Papazis (2005) noted all these fracture cement types
(plus sphalerite), but not the occurrence of all six in a
single fracture. Quartz, which forms partial or com-
plete bridges, is less common than albite. The SEM-CL
imaging reveals complex zoning and shows the connec-
tion of albite and quartz cement with grains in matrix.
The SEM-CL imaging of calcite mineralization shows
faint zoning parallel to fracture walls in some places. It
could be growth zoning, but it is more likely to indicate
limited crack-seal texture, in which the fracture opened
Figure 3. Natural frac-
tures in the T. P. Sims
core sealed with calcite
and arranged in en ech-
elon arrays at (a) meter
and (b) centimeter scale.
(c) Broken fracture sur-
face showing calcite min-
eralization. Note that
subtle changes in host
rock composition are re-
flected in differences in
the character of cement.
The numbers on the core
are depths in feet.
Gale et al. 611
in three or more small steps. Calcite formed after at
least some quartz. Single crystals of calcite fill that are
in optical continuity extend for several millimeters along
the fracture length, although some fibrous structures
are visible. Pyrite is present in large patches containing
micrometer-scale inclusions of albite and quartz. Pyrite
shows euhedral faces against calcite. Limited develop-
ment of pyrite hinders textural interpretation. Barite is
confined to the center of the fracture in dispersed small
patches, commonly greater than 10 mmin diameter, but
a few are up to 0.5 mm (0.02 in.) in diameter. Barite
is most commonly surrounded by albite and is rare in
calcite-filled areas of the fracture. Dolomite is relatively
rare and found in association with both calcite and albite.
Dolomite rhombohedra within calcite fracture fill are
late, and the crystal shape suggests that dolomite is re-
placing calcite instead of growing into fracture porosity.
The paragenetic sequence within the fracture is
complex, with evidence of synchronous growth of some
phases. Quartz and albite are partly synchronous and
early, forming syntaxial crystals that nucleated on grains
in the matrix. Some albite predates calcite; in calcite-
dominated segments of the fracture, albite forms par-
tial bridges, with gaps filled by calcite. At least some
Figure 4. Fracture-size data from T. P. Sims core. (a) Fracture aperture size distribution for all fractures. Fractures less than 0.05 mm
(0.0019 in.) wide, our lower limit for core sample measurement, are nominally shown having an aperture of 0.03 mm (0.0011 in.).
(b) Fracture heights arranged from largest to smallest, including truncated and true height values. (c) Length versus width plot for true
fracture heights where heights are distinguished according to whether heights are constrained by a mechanical boundary. Fracture
data from the Blakely and St. Clair cores are also included on this plot. Nominal values for apertures below the measurement limit
are 0.035 mm (0.0013 in.), so that they may be distinguished from the T. P. Sims data.
Figure 5. Rose diagrams showing fracture trends in the T. P. Sims core (a) from Hill (1992), used with permission from the Gas
Technology Institute; (b) in the mudrock sample from this study; and (c) in the dolomitic sample from this study.
612 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
calcite predates pyrite, where the pyrite may be replacing
calcite. Barite postdates most albite, and because it is
confined to the middle of the fracture fill, we interpret
it as a late phase.
Carbonate concretions, which locally can be sever-
al tens of centimeters in height, are developed through-
out the Barnett Shale. Concretions are commonly more
fractured than the mudstones, but fractures terminate
within individual concretions. Fractures in concretions
typically have complex geometries and multiple phases
of fill and are unlike fractures in the mudstones. Be-
cause they are local to individual concretions, these
fractures are not considered important with respect
to hydrocarbon production, and we did not study them
further.
Dolomitic Layer
The dolomitic sample comprises mostly ferroan dolo-
mite and calcite, but with significant pyrite, phosphatic
material, and clay. Fossil fragments and microfossils
of several compositions are present, along with small
amounts of albite. This lithology is one of the thin coarse-
grained accumulations noted by Papazis (2005), specifi-
cally a ripple cross-laminated interval. Loucks and Ruppel
(2007) interpret these layers to have been starved ripples
formed by contour currents in deep water.
Three or more sets of fractures occur in the dolo-
mitic layer (Figures 5c, 7). Three compositional variants
(dominantly calcitic, dominantly dolomitic, and those
with highly variable cements) do not correspond strictly
to the three fracture sets. All northwest-trending frac-
tures are dominantly calcite, as is the corresponding
set in mudrock. Also present are two sets of roughly
north-southtrending fractures that are difficult to dif-
ferentiate. Similar fracture fills are present in both sets:
dolomite + calcite pyrite and quartz. In a couple of
fractures in the sample, pyrite is locally the dominant
cement. Crack-seal texture was observed in one of the
predominantly dolomitic north-southtrending frac-
tures (Figure 8). Where present, quartz forms partial
bridges with chaotic CL zoning.
Fracture-filling pyrite in the dolomitic sample con-
tains numerous micrometer-scale inclusions of calcite,
suggesting partial replacement of calcite by pyrite. Py-
rite growths fill the fracture and then continue into the
host rock, exceeding the width of the fracture where
dolomite + calcite quartz is the fracture fill. This
relationship also suggests that pyrite is replacing some
fracture-lining mineral (probably calcite) insteadof grow-
ing into the fracture porosity.
The more westerly trending set seems to be youn-
ger, although timing relations are not definitive. In at
least one case, this set appears to reactivate parts of the
Figure 6. Images of fracture fill in the T. P. Sims mudrock sample. Six phases of mineralization (calcite, albite, pyrite, quartz, barite,
and dolomite) are present in the fracture fill. Some phases are best differentiated in secondary electron image (right), some phases in
backscattered electron image (center), and some in element map (left). Element map is a false color combination of three grayscale
element maps: red is Si, green is S, and blue is Ca. Phases are labeled albite (a), barite (b), calcite (c), dolomite (d), pyrite (p), and
quartz (q).
Gale et al. 613
Figure 7. Cold-cathode CL, plane light, and EDS element map images of multiple fracture sets in the dolomitic layer. Early, middle, and late labels refer to the relative timing of
fractures. Phases are labeled as for Figure 6.
6
1
4
N
a
t
u
r
a
l
F
r
a
c
t
u
r
e
s
i
n
t
h
e
B
a
r
n
e
t
t
S
h
a
l
e
earlier set, contributing to the complexity of fracture
cement in the resulting composite fracture. Both sets of
north-southtrending fractures are cut by northwest-
trending fractures, establishing the north-south frac-
tures to be older than the northwest-trending fractures.
Extensive examination of the mudstone layer in
the T. P. Sims core using numerous imaging methods
failed to produce any evidence of the two early sets of
generally north-southtrending fractures seen in the do-
lomitic layer. One possible explanation is that because
the dolomitic layers consolidated prior to the mudstone,
they retain evidence of earlier fracturing events. Another
possibility is that the distribution of these fractures in
the mudstone layers is such that they do not occur in the
size of sample we examined. This could be caused by
either lowoverall intensity or a high degree of clustering
with the sample in the study being outside of a cluster.
Fracture Characterization, Blakely Core
The Blakely core contains upper and lower Barnett
Shale, separated by the Forestburg limestone. Most nat-
ural fractures in this core are found in the Forestburg
interval, for example, at 7132 and 7134.25 ft (2173 and
2174.51 m) (Figure 9a, b, respectively), or are associ-
ated with concretions (Figure 9c). Only one natural
fracture was observed in the shale. Fractures in the
Forestburg interval are arranged in subvertical clus-
ters, terminating within the limestone. Two natural
fracture sets in the Forestburg limestone exist with
trends differing between 21 and 31j (Figure 9b). These
may be related to the two north-south fracture sets in
the dolomitic layer in the T. P. Sims core (Figure 5c).
Aperture and length data for fractures in the Forest-
burg limestone are plotted together with data fromthe
Figure 8. Backscattered electron image showing crack-seal texture within a fracture cutting dolomite-rich carbonate with a
phosphatic nodule (P). Slivers of phosphatic nodule are preserved as inclusion trails within the fracture fill. The inclusion trails
delineate incremental fracture growth steps. Slight changes in mineral chemistry in the dolomite fracture cement (D) also highlight
crack-seal texture. Crack-seal texture indicates this fracture opened by multiple events.
Gale et al. 615
T. P. Sims for comparison (Figure 4). Several fractures
in both cores have similar dimensions, but there are
also wider and longer fractures in the Forestburg in-
terval than in the Barnett Shale in the T. P. Sims core.
It is possible that more fractures are present in the
mudstone than are suggested by the limited sample
provided by this vertical well. Alternatively, fracturing
may have occurred preferentially in the Forestburg
limestone because it was more brittle than the sur-
rounding mudstone. Although the Barnett Shale is
considered to be relatively brittle in comparison with
other shales because of its low clay content, it is, nev-
ertheless, likely to be less brittle than the Forestburg
limestone.
Fracture Characterization, MC-1 Johanson Core
The Barnett Shale section in this core from close to the
Llano uplift is just 13 ft (4 m) thick. The core, which
is 2 in. (5 cm) in diameter, has parted along bedding
planes but is relatively well preserved. No natural frac-
tures were observed in the mudstone, which is locally
Figure 9. Fractures in
the Blakely core. (a) Frac-
tures with splayed termi-
nation in the Forestburg
shale. (b) Two, nonpar-
allel natural fracture sets
are present in the Forest-
burg shale. The sets are
labeled 1 and 2. In the slab
view at 7134 ft (2174 m),
set 2 is demonstrably the
younger set. In the other
views, in the absence of
crosscutting relationships,
the sets are labeled on the
basis of relative orienta-
tion. (c) Fractures associ-
ated with a carbonate-rich
concretion.
616 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
rich in skeletal debris. Two calcite-sealed fractures
approximately 1.5 cm(0.6 in.) tall and less than 1 mm
(0.04 in.) wide that are present in concretions do not
extend into the mudstone. Fracture intensity in this
location is apparently low, although if fractures are
clustered, the local intensity could be misleading.
Fracture Characterization, St. Clair Core
A Barnett Shale section 23 ft (7 m) thick at a depth
of 49734996 ft (15151522 m) is present in this
core from the Erath County. Three natural fractures
were observed in the mudstone, each being less than
0.05 mm (0.001 in.) wide and sealed with calcite. The
fractures terminate outside the core, so the heights of
9, 4, and 3.5 cm (3.5, 1.5, and 1.3 in.) are minimum
values (Figure 4c). The fractures are steeply dipping
and resemble those in the T. P Sims core, but the core
is not oriented, and the fracture orientations are there-
fore unknown.
Subcritical Crack Index Measurements
Representative load decay data fromtwo of the Barnett
Shale tests in this study, for which subcritical indices
are included in parentheses, are shown (Figure 10).
The total time for each test is approximately 10 min.
Note that the ranges in load differ significantly be-
tween the two indices, but variations are smooth and
fit well to the behavior predicted by equation 3. To de-
termine the magnitude of the subcritical index from
equation 1, the load decay curves are numerically dif-
ferentiated to obtain the velocities. From a log-log plot
of velocity against load, the index, n, is given by the
slopes of the curves, independent of all the constants
in the equations given in the methods section of this
article (Figure 11).
Indices for all the specimens tested range from
109 to 326, with means of 276 54 for the specimens
from 7692 ft (2344 m), and 122 20 for the specimen
from7749 ft (2361 m) (Table 2). The results for speci-
mens at a depth of 7692 ft (2344 m) are from tests on
different specimens. Data from the 7749-ft (2361-m)
depth are from multiple tests on the same specimen be-
cause other specimens failed in preparation. The range
of indices is near the high end of measurable values;
the specimens behave as almost perfectly brittle. High
indices indicate a rapid transition fromzero propagation
to almost rupture-crack velocity as load increases by a
small amount (equation 1). The indices determined for
these shale samples are comparable to indices for dolo-
stones and chalk (Table 3), but are high relative to those
for sandstones, which have means of approximately 55
(Rijken, 2005).
Figure 10. Load decay
curves measured for two
of the shale specimens.
Subcritical indices deter-
mined for these tests are
shown in parentheses.
Behavior predicted by
equation 3 is shown by
the solid red curves in the
plots; the test data are
points. Points and curves
are coincident, indicat-
ing good agreement be-
tween expected and actual
behavior. Arrows refer
to appropriate y (load)-
axes for each of the
curves.
Gale et al. 617
DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION
Natural opening-mode fractures in the Barnett Shale
are most commonly narrow, sealed with calcite, and
present in en echelon arrays. The narrow fractures are
all sealed and cannot contribute to reservoir storage or
enhance permeability. Individual fractures have high
aspect ratios. The host rock has a high subcritical crack
index. These characteristics are also seen in fractures
in the Austin Chalk, a well-known fractured reservoir
(Gale, 2002) (Figure 12a, b). We consider the Austin
Chalk to be a good analog for the Barnett Shale with
respect to natural fracture patterns. It is similar in the
sense that the Barnett Shale consists of mudstones in-
terspersed with carbonate layers, and the Austin Chalk
comprises chalk-marl couplets. Both are fine-grained,
layered systems with low matrix permeability. More-
over, their mechanical rock properties are similar
(Table 3).
In the Austin Chalk, fracture aperture sizes fol-
low a power-law distribution, and commonly only the
largest fractures, above an 11-mm (0.43-in.) emergent
threshold, are open (Figure 12c). The emergent threshold
Table 2. Summary of Subcritical Crack Index Test Results for
Barnett Shale in the T. P. Sims Core
Depth (ft) Specimen Index Average
7692 1-8B1 227
1-10B1 232
1-12A1 326
1-13B1 318 276 54
7749 2-7B 145
2-7B3 109
2-7B4 111 122 20
Figure 11. Log-log plot
of velocity (vertical axes),
numerically computed
from equation 3, against
load (horizontal axes),
for the specimens in Fig-
ure 10. The slopes of the
two curves are the sub-
critical indices, shown in
parentheses. Arrows refer
to appropriate axes for
the two different curves.
Table 3. Comparison of Mechanical Rock Properties for
Austin Chalk and Barnett Shale*
Lithology
Youngs Modulus
(Static) (GPa)
Poissons
Ratio
Subcritical
Crack Index
(in Air)
Barnett Shale 33.0** 0.20.3
y
109326**
Other shales 4.561.0
yy
0.030.3
yy
No data
Austin Chalk 48.0
yy
0.10.4
yy
95124
z
Other chalks 25.665.0
yy
0.24
yy
No data
*The subcritical crack indices for these lithologies are similarly high and are
larger than sandstone indices, which have a mean value of 55 (Rijken,
2005). Youngs modulus for the Barnett Shale, determined from a sample
from the T. P. Sims (33.0 GPa), lies within the range reported for other
shales and chalks and is a little lower than that determined for Austin
Chalk. Poissons ratio is similar for all lithologies.
**Data are from this study.
y
Data are from Hill (1992).
yy
Data are from Rijken and Cooke (2001) and references therein.
z
Data are from Holder et al. (2001).
618 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
Figure 12. (a, b) Similarities between fractures in Austin Chalk and Barnett Shale (image from Papazis [2005]). (c) Aperture sizes of
fractures measured in an Austin Chalk outcrop scanline with emergent threshold of 11 mm (0.43 in.) shown (size above which
fractures are open). The only open fractures are in a cluster at about 150 m (492 ft) along the scanline. (d, e) Open fractures from the
large fracture cluster. Similar large fractures in widely spaced clusters may be present in the Barnett Shale.
Gale et al. 619
is the size above which fractures in a given population
are likely to retain porosity (Laubach, 2003). We have
not directly observed large open fractures in the Barnett
Shale, although we note that Simon (2005, p. 47, his
figure 31) reported partly open natural fractures in
an image log. We suggest here that fracture apertures
in the Barnett Shale may follow a power-law distribu-
tion where, without stimulation, only the largest frac-
tures are open to flow. In the Austin Chalk, the largest
fractures are at least 10 cm (4 in.) wide and are mostly
sealed, but they have openings up to 1 cm(0.4 in.) wide
(Figure 12d, e). Horizontal wells drilled in the Austin
Chalk exploit these open fracture clusters. By analogy,
horizontal wells drilled normal to natural fractures in
the Barnett Shale might intersect an open fracture clus-
ter. If the fractures are contained within the shale, then
this could be useful in enhancing permeability. They
could be problematic with respect to hydraulic fracture
treatments, however, because open natural fractures
can capture treatment fluids and prevent new fractures
from forming. If the large natural fractures connect to
water in the underlying Ellenburger Group, they could
be detrimental. The effect of drilling into an open, natu-
ral fracture cluster is therefore partly dependent on the
height of the fracture system and whether it connects
to the Ellenburger Group.
The maximum aperture of elastic fractures scales
with the smallest dimension normal to aperture, which
is generally the fracture height. In the case of the
Austin Chalk, mechanical layer thickness, which con-
trols height, can be several tens of meters. Mechanical
layer thickness has not yet been determined for the
Barnett Shale. The upper constraint is the entire thick-
ness of the formation, including the Forestburg lime-
stone (>300 ft [>92 m] in the thickest part). Alter-
natively, the upper and lower Barnett thicknesses may
provide an upper limit. These are on the order of 100
250 ft (3076 m) thick, respectively. Internal carbonate-
rich layers provide smaller scale mechanical boundaries
for propagation of some fractures (Figure 9c), but not
for others (Figure 12b). Vertical persistence of frac-
tures is affected by the relative thicknesses of the frac-
turing layer and the bounding layers, together with the
size of the propagating fracture when it arrives at the
boundary.
The Forestburg limestone is approximately 38 ft
(12 m) thick in the vicinity of the Blakely well (Loucks
and Ruppel, 2007). Fractures could attain this height
before being constrained by the surrounding shale. At
a height of 12 m (39 ft) and a height/width aspect ratio
of 1000:1 (Figure 4c), fractures could growto be 12 mm
(0.47 in.) wide. These fractures may retain significant
porosity and permeability. If this is the case, then al-
though the Forestburg is regarded as being a barrier for
hydraulic fractures (Hill, 1992), isolated, open, natural
fracture swarms might connect the upper and lower
Barnett shales if they are tapped into during hydraulic
fracture treatment.
Geomechanical modeling of growing fracture sys-
tems has shown the importance of the subcritical index
for controlling the degree of fracture clustering (Olson,
2004). Large indices are linked with strongly clustered
fractures. Because the subcritical index in the Barnett
Shale is large, we interpret the fractures to be strongly
clustered. Geomechanical models using high subcriti-
cal indices indicate that the spacing between clusters
may be two to three times the mechanical layer thick-
ness. For the largest fractures, a mechanical layer thick-
ness of the whole Barnett Shale might be appropriate.
Fracture spacing would then be between 600 and 900 ft
(184 and 276 m), a value comparable to Austin Chalk
cluster spacing, whichis inexcess of 250m(820ft) (Gale,
2002). If cluster spacing is similar to that in the Austin
Chalk, then we predict that large open fractures will
be seen on horizontal well image logs, and evidence of
them should be present during drilling. They are un-
likely to be sampled in vertical core or on vertical well
image logs, however. If the mechanical layer thickness
is much smaller, then the maximum fracture aperture
will be smaller, and most fractures will probably be
sealed. Simon (2005) saw a marked northwest-oriented,
fastest azimuthal interval velocity around a well in the
Barnett Shale where fractures were seen in the image
log. If the fractures were clustered, then Simons (2005)
inference that fractures outside the image volume add
to the fastest azimuthal interval velocity signal may be
correct.
Large natural fractures perpendicular to present-
day S
Hmax
may be open, although the stress regime is
unfavorable. This is because fracture cement props the
fracture open, and cement that precipitated in the host
rock during or after fracturing renders the rock less
compliant and preserves the opening (Laubach et al.,
2004).
Why Natural Fractures Reactivate
Hydraulic fractures follow S
Hmax
, until they encoun-
ter natural fractures. In the case of the Barnett Shale,
microseismic monitoring (Fisher et al., 2004; War-
pinski et al., 2005) has shown that the hydraulic frac-
tures stimulate the natural fractures to open, producing
620 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale
a complex network (Figure 2). In many reservoirs
where hydraulic fractures encounter natural fractures,
the hydraulic fractures are blocked from further
propagation (Warpinski and Teufel, 1987), but this is
not a problem in the Barnett Shale (Warpinski et al.,
2005). We propose that natural fractures are not a bar-
rier because the tensile strength of the contact between
the calcite fracture fill and the shale wall rock is low.
The strength is lowbecause calcite in the fracture is not
growing in crystallographic continuity with grains in
the wall rock. No crystal bond exists between the wall
rock and the calcite cement. This is in contrast to quartz
cement in fractures in tight-gas sandstones (Laubach,
2003). We know the fracture-host boundary in the Bar-
nett Shale fractures is weak because fracture-cement
fills in the cores are commonly parted from the wall
rock (Figures 3, 12). Although these cases are caused
by core-handling damage, we suggest that elevated fluid
pressures from a hydraulic fracture treatment cause
similar failure in the subsurface. Thus, when natural
fractures are encountered, they are opened up to fluids,
and they provide a network connected to the wellbore.
Natural fractures in this scenario are advantageous to
optimal stimulation of the well.
CONCLUSIONS
Natural, regionally developed, opening-mode fractures
in the Barnett Shale can reactivate during hydraulic frac-
ture treatments, providing a larger rock volume in con-
tact with the wellbore than would be the case with a
single hydraulic fracture. The natural fracture system
must therefore be characterized, and in-situ stress must
be determined for hydraulic-fracture treatments to be
optimized.
Although natural fractures observed in the Barnett
Shale are mostly sealed, they probably follow power-
law aperture size distributions, so that a few wide frac-
tures may be open. Barnett Shale has a high subcritical
crack index, indicating that fractures are highly clustered.
In the Fort Worth Basin, at least two sets of natural frac-
tures are present, an older north-southtrending set and
a dominant, younger, west-northwesteast-southeast
trending set. Cements in the fractures are not generally
templated onto grains in the wall rock, and the frac-
tures act as planes of weakness that can reactivate. The
in-situ stress in the Fort Worth Basin is well known,
with S
Hmax
trending northeast-southwest. S
Hmax
trends
are less consistent to the west in the Permian Basin be-
cause this region is at the junction of several modern-
day stress province boundaries. When the Barnett Shale
type play is extended outside the Fort Worth Basin, the
natural fracture systemshould be characterized, and in-
situ stress should be measured.
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622 Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale