SpannEnD – The crustal stress state of Germany

Information about the recent stress state of the upper crust is important for understanding tectonic processes and for the use of the underground in general. A currently important topic, the search for a radioactive waste deposit, illustrates this relevance, as the crustal stress state is decisive for the short and long-term safety of a possible repository. For example, the integrity of the host rock due to the activation or reactivation of faults and associated fluid pathways during. However, the level of knowledge of the upper crustal stress field in Germany is quite low. The World Stress Map (WSM) and a new stress magnitude database give some insights, but only spatially unevenly distributed, often incomplete and rarely of good quality. Therefore, we present the first 3D geomechanical model of Germany that allows a comprehensive prediction of the complete stress tensor. The model covers an area of 1250 x 1000 km2 and contains 20 units with individual rock properties (Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and density). It is calibrated against the datasets of the WSM and the magnitude database. Our results are in good agreement with the orientation of the maximum horizontal stress and show a good fit regarding the magnitudes of the minimum and maximum horizontal stress.