Discontinuous fault zones

Many tectonic faults and tension fractures are, at least initially, composed of separate segments. This note deals with a little explored reason for this phenomenon which, in faulting, has obvious implications both for the migration of hydrocarbons and for the sealing capacity of faults. Theoretical arguments based on CoulombMohr's theory of shear failure and on a theorem for the integrability of vector fields lead to the expectation that, in general, non-uniform and truly three-dimensional stress fields will impede the formation of smooth, coherent fault surfaces; this is in contrast to the stress fields that are associated with plane deformation. Examples are given and special attention is drawn to the role of tectonic stress fields with horizontal principal stresses that change with depth in magnitude and direction.