There are 2 basic types of natural fractures that need to be studied when characterising naturally fractured reservoirs - whether it be a geothermal or hydrocarbon reservoir. These are extension and shear fractures.
This blog looks at pairs of faults known as conjugates. Often, one fault is older than the other which can be determined if that fault has been displaced by the other. The example faults here are actually made up of deformation bands so could be described as compound zones of deformation bands.
These conjugate normal faults are found in the Permo-Trias Hopeman Sandstone, Inner Moray Firth, UK. Here we look at these within the context of Anderson’s model and what it means when for example interpreting seismic data.