On a new law of faulting along tectonic wedges: Cosserat explanation of the preferred (paleo)stress states in the Earth's crust

Cosserat extension of the Gauss stress-strain inversion method and multiple-slip method (MSM) are used to analyse 18 examples of natural wedge faulting observed in Slovenia. Based on additional numerical tests we show that kinematic incompatibility of slip along intersecting faults (wedges) has a significant effect on the state of stress in the Earth's crust. The slip direction along intersecting faults (wedges) can only be subparallel to the intersection direction between the faults. The normal stress on the wedges is then equal to the intermediate principal stress (eigenvalue) of the symmetric part of the stress tensor. This equality is very fundamental and could potentially be interpreted as a new law of faulting along tectonic wedges and non-planar faults. In the Cosserat theory of wedge faulting we also define two stress criteria, these are the weak and the strong stress conditions. The weak stress condition is related to the frictional reactivation of the wedges. It defines two limit values of the stress parameter and intermediate principal stress of the symmetric part of the stress tensor. The strong stress condition is related to the brittle faulting along tectonic wedges. It relates the angle of internal friction to the value of the stress parameter and the intermediate principal stress of the symmetric part of the stress tensor. For the value of the angle of internal friction larger than zero, the stress parameter is less than 0.5, which is in agreement with numerical and empirical observations described in this paper.