The contemporary stress state in the upper crust is of great interest for geotechnical applications and basic research alike. However, our knowledge of the crustal stress field from the data perspective is limited. For Germany basically two datasets are available: orientations of the maximum horizontal stress (S_Hmax) and the stress regime as part of the World Stress Map (WSM) database as well as a complementary compilation of stress magnitude data of Germany and adjacent regions. However, these datasets only provide pointwise, incomplete and heterogeneous information of the 3D stress tensor. Here, we present a geomechanical–numerical model that provides a continuous description of the contemporary 3D crustal stress state on a regional scale for Germany. The model covers an area of about 1000×1250 km² and extends to a depth of 100 km containing seven units, with specific material properties (density and elastic rock properties) and laterally varying thicknesses: a sedimentary unit, four different units of the upper crust, the lower crust and the lithospheric mantle. The model is calibrated by the two datasets to achieve a best-fit regarding the S_Hmax orientations and the minimum horizontal stress magnitudes (S_hmin). The modeled orientations of S_Hmax are almost entirely within the uncertainties of the WSM data used and the S_hmin magnitudes fit to various datasets well. Only the S_Hmax magnitudes show locally significant deviations, primarily indicating values that are too low in the lower part of the model. The model is open for further refinements regarding model geometry, e.g., additional layers with laterally varying material properties, and incorporation of future stress measurements. In addition, it can provide the initial stress state for local geomechanical models with a higher resolution.

中文翻译：

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根据数据校准的地质力学模型的德国 3D 地壳应力状态

上地壳的当代应力状态对岩土工程应用和基础研究都具有重要意义。然而，我们从数据角度对地应力场的了解是有限的。对于德国基本上两个数据集是可用的：最大水平应力（方位小号_HMAX）和应力状态作为世界应力图（WSM）数据库，以及德国和相邻区域的应力幅值数据的互补编译的一部分。然而，这些数据集仅提供 3D 应力张量的逐点、不完整和异构信息。在这里，我们提出了一个地质力学-数值模型，该模型提供了德国区域尺度上当代 3D 地壳应力状态的连续描述。该模型占地面积约1000×1250  km ²并延伸到 100 km 的深度，包含七个单元，具有特定的材料特性（密度和弹性岩石特性）和横向变化的厚度：一个沉积单元、四个不同的上地壳单元、下地壳单元和岩石圈地幔。该模型由两个数据集校准，以实现关于S _Hmax方向和最小水平应力大小 ( S _hmin )的最佳拟合。S _Hmax的建模方向 几乎完全在所使用的 WSM 数据的不确定性范围内，并且S _hmin幅度很好地适合各种数据集。只有 S _Hmax幅度显示局部显着偏差，主要表明模型下部的值太低。该模型对于模型几何形状的进一步改进是开放的，例如，具有横向变化的材料特性的附加层，以及未来应力测量的结合。此外，它还可以为局部地质力学模型提供更高分辨率的初始应力状态。