In situ rock strength and far field stress in the Nankai accretionary complex: Integration of downhole data from multiple wells

Knowing the magnitude of tectonic stress and rock strength at seismically active margins is important towards understanding fault strength and failure mechanics, yet both are difficult to measure in situ. Recent work at subduction margins, including Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Nankai Trough Subduction Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) drillsites, uses the width of compressional wellbore breakouts (BO), which depends on far field stress conditions, rock strength, and borehole annular pressure (APRS), to estimate the magnitude of horizontal principal stresses (S_{Hmax and} S_hmin)_; estimates are problematic due to uncertainty in rock strength (unconfined compressive strength/UCS– for which direct measurements are scarce) and rheology that govern stress distribution at the wellbore. We conduct a novel case study at IODP Site C0002, where a hole was drilled twice with different boundary conditions, providing an opportunity to define in situ stress and strength from field data.

Site C0002 is the main deep riser borehole for NanTroSEIZE, located near the seaward edge of the Kumano Basin above the seismogenic plate boundary, ~30 km from the trench. Several boreholes were drilled at the site. During IODP Expedition 314 in 2007, Hole C0002A was drilled with a suite of logging while drilling (LWD) tools to 1401 mbsf in a riserless mode. Hole C0002F, ~70 m away, was drilled to 862 mbsf in riserless mode during Exp. 326 in 2010 and deepened to 2005 mbsf in a riser mode during Expedition 338 in 2012-2013. Increased APRS achieved by riser drilling stabilizes the borehole and suppresses BO, consistent with resistivity imaging data from Exp. 314 that document well-developed, continuous BO throughout the borehole, and data from Expedition 338 indicating few BO.

We use a semi-Newtonian approach to solve for stress and UCS consistent with the observed BO width and measured APRS in the two holes over the interval from 862-2005 mbsf. Effective S_Hmax ranges from ~10-30 MPa and indicate a strike-slip or thrust regime. Our results indicate UCS is higher than predicted by empirical relations and a small suite of laboratory tests by as much as 20 MPa. This apparent discrepancy may indicate that the failure criterion, or assumed distribution of stresses around the wellbore in analyses of far field stress, may not be appropriate in this setting.