Argillaceous sediments that are sometimes caprocks to oil deposits may, under certain conditions, be treated
as normally consolidated clays in the soil mechanics context, although the relevant pressure range would be far beyond
that which is usual in soil mechanics.
Using test results of two clays anisotropically consolidated in the laboratory, extrapolations are made employing the pro·
posed postulate. In particular, the effect of horizontal strains, resulting from the geometric configuration of the bedrock
on which sedimentation takes place, on horizontal stresses developed in the sediment is investigated, under certain as-
sumptions. It is concluded that for reasonable values of horizontal strains the percent change in horizontal stresses is not
very significant, and anyway, compressive straining would alleviate the danger of hydraulic fracturing. On the contrary,
tensile straining would increase the danger of hydraulic fracturing.

Argillaceous sed …

AUTORI: Cavounidis S. RIG ANNO: 1984 NUMERO: 3 Numero di pagina: 125

Allegato: