We examine whether the combination of tectonic stress and strain is useful in characterizing tectonic condition and geomechanics of sedimentary basins. We compile measured stress, pore pressure, and mechanical rock property data from six major sedimentary basins worldwide. We find that the measured horizontal principal stresses are always higher than the theoretically calculated stresses based on a simple uniaxial compaction poroelastic equation, known as Eaton’s model. From this we conclude that there are always external tectonic stresses in seemingly stable basins. We extract these external tectonic stresses by subtracting the theoretically calculated horizontal stresses from the measured horizontal stresses, and relate them to the tectonic strains estimated by the linear elastic constitutive model. Given the external tectonic stresses and associated strains, we interpret the tectonic conditions of individual basins from the tectonic differential stress and strain conditions. The six basins exhibit distinct tectonic stress and strain regimes, which can be related generally to geological processes such as brittle and ductile deformation. The results show that combining tectonic stress and strain is useful in characterizing sedimentary basins.

我们研究了构造应力和应变的组合是否可用于表征沉积盆地的构造条件和地质力学。我们汇总了来自全球六个主要沉积盆地的测量应力，孔隙压力和机械岩石特性数据。我们发现，测得的水平主应力始终高于基于简单的单轴压实多孔弹性方程（即伊顿模型）的理论计算应力。据此我们得出结论，在看似稳定的盆地中总是存在外部构造应力。我们通过从测得的水平应力中减去理论计算的水平应力来提取这些外部构造应力，并将它们与线性弹性本构模型估计的构造应变相关联。给定外部构造应力和相关应变，我们从构造差异应力和应变条件解释单个盆地的构造条件。六个盆地表现出明显的构造应力和应变机制，通常与诸如脆性和韧性变形等地质过程有关。结果表明，构造应力和应变的结合对于表征沉积盆地是有用的。