Static deformation of a uniform half-space due to a very long tensile fault

Abstract

The Airy stress function for a long tensile fault of arbitrary dip and finite width buried in a homogeneous, isotropic, perfectly elastic half-space is obtained. This Airy stress function is used to derive closed-form analytical expressions for the displacements and stresses at an arbitrary point of the half-space caused by a long vertical tensile fault of finite width. The variation of the displacement and stress fields with distance from the fault and with depth is studied numerically. Contour maps showing the displacement and stress fields around a long vertical tensile fault in a half-space are presented.