Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

Problem Set #2: Force, Pressure, and Stress

1. Consider the following descriptions for states of stress:

i) isotropic and homogeneous
ii) isotropic and heterogeneous
iii) anisotropic and homogeneous
iv) anisotropic and heterogeneous

(a) Which of these terms accurately describes lithostatic stress? Explain your answer. (2)

Lithostatic stress is isotropic and heterogeneous (ii). It is an isotropic stress at any point but increases with
depth. (2)


(b) Which of these terms accurately describes hydrostatic pressure? Explain your answer. (2)

Hydrostatic pressure is isotropic and heterogeneous (ii). It is an isotropic pressure at any point but increases
with depth. (2)


(c) Which of these terms accurately describes fluid pressure in a single pore? Explain your answer. (2)

Fluid pressure in a single pore is isotropic and homogeneous (i). It is an isotropic pressure pushing equally in
all directions on the sides of the pore. It is homogeneous because the pressure is assumed to be the same
everywhere within the very small pore (i.e., the pore is treated as a point source). (2)



2. Work like an Egyptian. You have been commissioned to help design a great pyramid to honor your beloved king,
Tutansimon. The pyramid architects tell you that for stability reasons, it is very important that the vertical
stress (force per unit area) acting on any hypothetical horizontal plane at any height within the pyramid is
always identical. They assume this is the most logical design because, as any pharaoh knows, the strength of
materials is governed by the ratio of force to area. The area of any horizontal plane within the pyramid must
gradually decrease up towards the top of the pyramid, so the architects want the force acting on these planes
to decrease in the same proportion to keep the vertical stress constant.

According to the architects, the base of the pyramid will have four sides that are each 100 m in length. The
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pyramid will be built using limestone with a density of 2400 kg/m . Their task for you: tell them how tall the
pyramid must be to meet their needs otherwise they will chop off your head and feed your brains to bats. My
questions to you:

a) Is it possible for you survive this employment opportunity with your brains intact? Explain!
(10)
Hints: (1) Draw a figure. (2) Come up with a general expression for stress as a function of height. (3) The
volume of a pyramid = 1/3 x length of base x width of base x height).

Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

b) The limestone has a compressive strength of 100 MPa. How high would the pyramid need to be in order
for the structure to start collapsing under its own weight? Given this result, should we be concerned
about any of the pyramids in Egypt suffering this fate? (Hint: keep track of your units during the
calculation). (8)

c) Now dont you think pyramids are cool for reasons you didnt previously realize?!

Pyramids are indeed cool. And they can keep milk fresh and razor blades sharp. Although, this may be an old
pharaohs tale.
Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

3. Dam it! In the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dam Building Division went through a hiring strategy in
which they only hired graduates of Boise State University* (*Note: some parts of this question may be
fictional). In response to the great Idaho dam disaster that soon followed, the Corps is attempting a new
strategy in which they qualify their dam-building specifics based on questions sent to graduate students at the
University of Idaho and Washington State University. Below is the background info needed.

There is now concern about the integrity of two dams built in the 1970s. One of them is the Libby Dam in
Montana, built to hold back the waters of Lake Koocanusa. The other is Dworshak Dam, built to hold back the
waters of Dworshak Reservoir, near Orofino, Idaho. Locate both dams in Google Earth.


























3a) Lake Koocanusa (dam at S end). (b) Dworshak Reservoir (dam at southern end).


Lake Koocanusa stretches 145 km back from the 129-m-high Libby Dam, all the way into British Columbia. The
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volume of water in Lake Koocanusa is a whopping 7.22 km . At the dam wall, the maximum water depth is 113 m.

Dworshak Reservoir only stretches 85 km back from the 219-m-high Dworshak Dam, the third-highest dam in
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the United States. The volume of water in Dworshak Reservoir is estimated at 4.28 km , significantly less than
the volume of Lake Koocanusa. At the dam wall, the maximum water depth is 217 m.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is concerned that they have severely underestimated the ability of the Libby
Dam to hold back Lake Koocanusa, given that it holds 169% of the volume of the Dworshak Reservoir. They are
thinking of making the dam much thicker at its base just to be on the safe side. The logic being used is that the
dam needs to be much stronger at Libby than at Dworshak to hold back so much water. The problem is
considered particularly dire since the Dworshak Dam has repeatedly shown signs of catastrophic failure, with
large cracks opening up in the dam wall soon after its construction (some up to 120 m long) and again in 1980
(a 72 m long crack).
Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

a) Assume the dams are both made of exactly the same materials and are able to withstand an identical
amount of pressure against the dam wall. Do you agree with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
assessment that the Libby Dam should have been designed to be 169% of the strength of the
Dworshak Dam and may thus start to fracture? Explain your answer quantitatively. (5)

The pressure experienced along the dam wall is only a function of water depth, not the volume of the lake
behind the dam (for the same reason that pressure is no greater in large oceans as in small seas at an
equivalent depth). All that matters is the depth of the water at the dam wall. The water is deeper at the
dam wall at Dworshak Reservoir (217 m) and therefore exerts a greater pressure than the water at Libby
Dam, where the water of Lake Koocanusa is shallower (113 m). So the Libby Dam can be weaker than the
Dworshak Dam without concern.

Pressure at Dworshak = w g d = 1000 kg/m3 * 9.8 ms-2 * 217 m = 2.13 x 106 Pa = 2.13 MPa

Pressure at Koocanusa = w g d = 1000 kg/m3 * 9.8 ms-2 * 113 m = 1.11 x 106 Pa = 1.11 MPa (5)


b) Dams are actually designed to withstand a certain amount of force across their surface areas. If the
strength of the dam concrete is only a function of the force exerted by the water, does it matter what
the concavity of the dam wall is, or if the dam is completely linear, for the concrete integrity? (2)

The concrete experiences the pressure exerted by the water, which is isotropic. The shape of the dam
therefore doesnt matter because all orientations of dam wall would experience the exact same force per
unit area at any particular depth. (2)


c) Given your answer to part (b), why then are dams commonly built in such a way
that they are concave downstream? After all, it would use less concrete to just
make it linear across the valley. Hint: your answer should consider the resolution
of a force vector into components within the appropriate coordinate system
designed for this problem. (5)

If the dam is built linearly directly across the river canyon, the orientation of the dam
wall is perpendicular to the walls of the canyon. If we define a coordinate system such
that one coordinate axis is parallel to the canyon walls and one is perpendicular to
them, it can be seen that the forces exerted by the dam wall onto the walls of the
canyon resolve differently for the two dam shapes described.

In the case of the linear dam, the traction vector representing the stress imposed by the dam wall on the canyon
wall is oriented parallel to the s-axis (see figure 3c). Therefore, all of the traction resolves into shear stress
acting along the canyon wall, with zero normal stress. This is a situation very conducive to shear failure (i.e., the
dam will cause fractures parallel to the canyon wall to potentially slide, producing a dam failure).

In the case of the curved dam, the traction vector representing the stress imposed by the dam wall on the
canyon wall is oriented at an angle to both the n- and the s-axis (see figure 3d). Therefore, the traction resolves
into both normal and shear stresses acting along the canyon wall. In this situation, fractures oriented parallel to
the dam wall are less likely to undergo shear failure, reducing the likelihood of a dam failure). (5)




Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

Linear Dam Curved Dam

lake lake

canyon wall
canyon wall

canyon wall
canyon wall

fluid pressure, pf fluid pressure, pf

n"
normal stress n = 0 normal stress n
n"

shear stress s
shear stress s = pf
t(n)

t(n)

traction t(n) on
canyon wall is
parallel to wall river

river


s" s"

3c) Stresses resolved onto the canyon walls for a linear dam. (d) For a curved dam (both n and s produced).



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4. Consider a region of the Earths crust where the rock density is a depth-independent 2400 kg m .

a) What is the vertical stress (lithostatic stress or overburden) at a depth of 5 km? (3)

The vertical stress is the lithostatic stress:

v = rgh = 2400 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 5000 m = 1.176 x 108 kg m-1 s-2 = 117.6 MPa (3)


b) In the absence of any tectonic stresses, what are the magnitudes of principal stresses in the
horizontal plane? (2)

Lithostatic stress is isotropic, so vert = horiz = 117.6 MPa (2)


c) If the rocks are water saturated, and the water table is at a depth of 500m, what is the magnitude of
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the hydrostatic pressure at this 5 km depth? Assume the density of water is 1000 kg/m . (4)


If the water table is at 500 m depth, then at 5 km depth, there is a
4500 m water column present. Therefore:

pf = wgd = 1000 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 4500 m = 44.1 MPa (4)




d) What is the magnitude of the effective stress at 5 km depth given this water pressure? (2)

The effective stress: eff = v pf = 117.6 MPa 44.1 MPa = 73.5 MPa (2)


Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

4. Now consider a region of the Earths crust where a borehole is being drilled into a hydrocarbon reservoir. The
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stratigraphy consists of the following rock types: a 1 km thick shale layer (density 2100 kg/m ), a 1.5 km thick
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sandstone layer (density 2400 kg/m ) and a limestone unit (density 2600 kg/m ) of unknown thickness but
which extends deeper than the maximum depth of the borehole.

a) Calculate the lithostatic stress that exists along the walls of the borehole at depths of
(i) 1 km, (ii) 2 km and (iii) 3 km (the bottom of the borehole). (15)



The vertical stress is the lithostatic stress:

(i) At 1 km depth:
v = rgh
= 2100 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 1000 m
= 20.58 MPa (3)

(ii) At 2 km depth:
v = rgh = v (top 1 km) + v (next 1 km)
= 20.58 MPa + (2400 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 1000 m)
= 20.58 MPa + 23.52 MPa
= 44.1 MPa (6)

(iii) At 3 km depth:
v = rgh = v (top 1 km) + v (next 1.5 km) + v (bottom 0.5 km)
= 20.58 MPa + (2400 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 1500 m) + (2600 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 500 m)
= 20.58 MPa + 35.28 MPa + 12.74 MPa
= 68.6 MPa (6)


b) Now calculate the effective stress at each of these depths, assuming the rocks are saturated up to the
Earths surface. (9)

(i) At 1 km depth:
pf = wgh = 9.8 MPa, so eff = 20.58 MPa 9.8 MPa = 10.78 MPa (3)

(ii) At 2 km depth:
pf = wgh = 19.6 MPa, so eff = 44.1 MPa 19.6 MPa = 24.5 MPa (3)

(iii) At 3 km depth:
pf = wgh = 29.4 MPa, so eff = 68.6 MPa 29.4 MPa = 39.2 MPa (3)


c) Assuming the borehole is cased down to the depth of hydrocarbon recovery 3 km down, what range
of density of drilling mud would the borehole operators need to use to ensure that the borehole
neither collapses (in response to the formation pressure) nor explodes (by exceeding the confining
pressure) at a depth of 3 km? (9)

Drilling mud needs to push out against the 29.4 MPa of formation pressure at a depth of 3 km but cannot
exceed the confining pressure of 68.6 MPa, otherwise hydrofracturing may occur. So:

Geol 542: Advanced Structural Geology Fall 2013

68.6 MPa > mudgh > 29.4 MPa

68.6 MPa /gh > mud > 29.4 MPa /gh

68.6 x 106 kg m-1 s-2 / 9.8 m s-2 x 3000 m > mud > 29.4 x 106 kg m-1 s-2 / 9.8 m s-2 x 3000 m

Thus, the acceptable range of mud density is:

2,333.33 kg/m3 < mud < 1,000.00 kg/m3 (5)

Note that the lower end of the density here is simply the density of water (i.e., mud wouldnt be needed at
all)! This is because the formation pressure in this problem is simply hydrostatic. In the case of
overpressured reservoirs (the typical situation), the drilling mud would need to be denser than water.

Also, in real situations, the least horizontal stress may be less than the overburden (i.e., either a normal or
strike-slip fault environment), so the drilling mud density would need to be lower than calculated in this
simply approximation.


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