Delvaux, D. 1997. ‘Present-day intraplate stress field in the Varican Front and Rhenish Massif: Influence of rifting and reactivation of pre-existing structures’. Aardkundige Mededelingen 8: 57-60. Leuven.

Article dans une revue scientifique / Article dans un périodique

The Present-day intraplate stress field in the Variscan Front and the Rhenish Massif of Belgium and adjacent regions is re-examined on the basis of a new stress inversion of published earthquake focal mechanisms. The influence of the Lower Rhine Graben on the intraplate compressional stress field is clearly expressed by a change in tectonic regime to semi-radial extension, without rotation of the stress axes. This points to a "passive" influence of local lithospheric sources on the regional stress field generated by plate boundary forces. Reactivation of pre-existing structures in the present-day stress field is relevant to seismic risk assessment in Belgium and adjacent regions.