Paleostress Analysis and Fault Mechanical Stratigraphy of the Gulf of Suez Margin from Signal Processing of Fracture Data

By

 John D. Pigott¹, Andrew J. Rich¹, Ali Sadek², Sherief Sadek², Hansel Gonzalez¹, Kulwadee L. Pigott¹

(1) University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (2) Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

 Paleostress determinations gathered from eleven field observations of fractures along the Gulf of Suez margin, Republic of Egypt, were analyzed by a novel signal processing adaptation of the “Angelier” method. When applied to noisy fracture populations, one may effectively discriminate out clear signals, i.e. delineate spatially and temporally discrete fracture populations. These data were filtered, separated into populations by cluster analysis, transferred into the frequency domain, deconvolved, and analyzed statistically both within and between stations. At least three among many other principal direction populations of para-coulombic fracturing are readily apparent. The paleostresses inferred for these three principal fracture population trends (to the northeast to west-northwest, to the north-northeast, and to the northwest) can be related to specific tectonic events predating, coeval with, and post-dating the crustal extension of the Gulf of Suez, with some fracture populations indicating responses to multiple tectonic events. In general, the inferred paleostress directions support existing models of Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonics in the region. An understanding of the regional and local mechanical stratigraphy of the fracture architecture of Gulf of Suez reservoirs derived from the signal processing method may assist in their optimized exploration and exploitation.