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Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated

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DOI: 10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015

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Research paper

Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on

reactivated faults
Hong Xu a, Shunshan Xu b,n, Ángel F. Nieto-Samaniego b, Susana A. Alaniz-Álvarez b
a
Rhodes College, 2000 North Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112, USA
b
Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Blvd. Juriquilla No. 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The slip vector on a fault is an important parameter in the study of the movement history of a fault and
Received 4 September 2015 its faulting mechanism. Although there exist many graphical programs to represent the shear stress (or
Received in revised form slickenline) orientations on faults, programs to quantitatively calculate the orientation of fault slip based
17 March 2016
on a given stress field are scarce. In consequence, we develop Slicken 1.0, a software to rapidly calculate
Accepted 22 July 2016
the orientation of maximum shear stress on any fault plane. For this direct method of calculating the
resolved shear stress on a planar surface, the input data are the unit vector normal to the involved plane,
Keywords: the unit vectors of the three principal stress axes, and the stress ratio. The advantage of this program is
Resolved shear that the vertical or horizontal principal stresses are not necessarily required. Due to its nimble design
Fault reactivation
using Java SE 8.0, it runs on most operating systems with the corresponding Java VM. The software
Stress regime
program will be practical for geoscience students, geologists and engineers and will help resolve a de-
ficiency in field geology, and structural and engineering geology.
& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction program that rapidly and accurately calculates orientations of

The features on fault slickensides such as tool marks, corruga-
tions, scoops and mullions are useful kinematic indicators for the
interpretation of the relative motion of opposing sides of a fault
(e.g. Petit, 1987; Doblas, 1998). The data of slickenlines or slip
vectors are often applied in three main types of study: (a) to cal-
culate fault displacement (e.g. Nieto-Fuentes et al., 2014; Lisle and
Walker, 2013; Xu et al., 2009); (b) to determine the reduced or
complete paleostress tensors (e.g. Angelier, 1989; Reches, 1987;
André et al., 2001; Amrouch et al., 2011); (c) to infer the faulting
mechanism (e.g. Sagy and Brodsky, 2009; Marshall and Morris,
2012; Kirkpatrick and Brodsky, 2014).
In daily work, geologists and engineers encounter problems
when determining orientations of slickenlines or slips on faults.
Traditionally, the direction of the maximum resolved shear stress
on a certain planar surface can be graphically derived from the
given principal stresses (e.g. Lisle, 1998; Ragan, 1990; Fry, 1992,
2003; Célérier, 1995; Célérier and Séranne, 2001; Shan et al.,
2009). However, the most currently known methods are tedious to
perform while much data are calculated. This paper will present a
slickenlines or slips on the (fault) planes when the stress field is
known by alternative methods.
Generally, in civil works or/and engineering geology, the ap-
plied stress field is usually known. In the case of vertical and
horizontal of principal stress axes, slips on any planes can be
predicted by using a formula given by Bott (1959). The analysis by
using our program allows the determination of the geometry of
the slip directions on planar surfaces within any given tectonic
field in which the principal stresses may not be vertical. This is
important since in nature, the steepest stress axis deviates from
the vertical axis by more than 25° in 25% of cases (Lisle et al.,
2006). The inclined principal stresses are possibly due to pluton
emplacement, ductile flow, and shearing on low-angle faults from
below (e.g. Melosh, 1990; Yin and Kelty, 2000).
2. Mechanical assumptions of shear failure
The normal stress (s) on a plane is expressed by
σ = σijni2 (1)

n
Corresponding author. where ni is the unit vector normal to the plane and sij the stress
E-mail address: sxu@geociencias.unam.mx (S. Xu). tensor (e.g. Ramsay, 1967; Moeck et al., 2009)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015
0098-3004/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
2 H. Xu et al. / Computers & Geosciences ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

Considering that traction stress vector T2 ¼ s2 þ τ2, the total →

n = ( ln, mn , nn) = ( − cos φ sin α, − sin α sin φ, cos α ) (5)
stress on the plane is calculated by
Anderson's stress condition (Anderson, 1951) assumes that the
σ 2 + τ 2 = σ12n12 + σ22n22 + σ32n32 (2) state of stresses controls the orientation of the fault plane and
where τ is the maximum shear stress on the plane and s1, s2 and predicts the dip-parallel slickenlines on normal and reverse faults
s3 are the principal stresses in decreasing order with compression and horizontal slickenlines on strike–slip faults. In the model of
defined as positive. fault reactivation, the state of stress controls the orientation of the
On the other hand, since ni is a unit vector, we have slip vector, which is assumed to be parallel to the shear stress
applied on both newly formed fault planes as well as reactivated
n12 + n22 + n32 = 1 (3) ones (e.g. Bott 1959).
The directional cosines of the effective principal stresses are
By resolving these three equations, the maximum shear stress →
is a function of the principal stresses and the direction cosines of given by ni = ( li, mi , ni), where i¼1, 2, and 3, for maximum, in-
the unit vector normal to the plane. termediate, and minimum stresses (s1, s2, and s3) and can be
According to the Coulomb criterion, the rupture occurs on a obtained by their trends (φi) and plunges (δi):
plane with shear stress that reaches the critical value defined by li = cos δi cos φi (6a)
the following equation:
τ = C + μσ (4) mi = cos δi sin φi (6b)
whereτ is the shear stress, s the normal stress, both on the po-
tential plane of faulting, C is the cohesion and m the coefficient of ni = sin δi (6c)
internal friction. Because the directions of s1, s2, and s3 are perpendicular to
The Coulomb criterion expressed in Eq. (4) is valid, assuming each other, they form a coordinate system. Generally, as the si's are
that (a) there exist homogeneous stress boundary conditions
not parallel to the coordinate axes Xi as shown in Fig. 2(b), we
throughout the domain; (b) the slip is in accordance with la-
define the direction cosines normal to a plane in the stress co-
boratory derived friction criteria, ignoring the role of surrounding
ordinate system is (ls1, ls2, ls3). The unit vector normal to the same
domains (e.g. Scotti, 1991). Anderson's theory (Anderson, 1951) →
plane in the stress coordinate system, n ′ = (lσ1, lσ 2, lσ 3) is related to
predicts that faults should be conjugate planes, which include the →
intermediate principal stress direction (Fig. 1a–c). The acute angle n = ( ln, mn , nn) in the geographic coordinate system and it can be
between the conjugate faults is controlled by the coefficient of defined using the matrix operation below:
internal friction (m). This theory predicts that slickenlines parallel ⎡l ⎤ ⎡ l m n ⎤⎡ ⎤
to the resolved maximum shear stress. However, in nature the slip → ⎢ σ1 ⎥ → ⎢
1 1 1
⎥⎢ ln ⎥
n ´ = ⎢ lσ2 ⎥ = Tr n = ⎢ l2 m2 n2 ⎥⎢ mn ⎥
vector will typically vary in orientation along a fault and
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
throughout time during faulting. An oblique slip on a fault plane ⎣ lσ 3⎦ ⎣ l3 m3 n3 ⎦⎢⎣ nn ⎥⎦ (7)
could be formed in a tectonic event (e.g., Bott, 1959; Fig. 1d). On
According to matrix multiplication, we obtain lσ1 = l1ln + m1mn+
the other hand, multiple sets of slickenlines can be expected on a
single fault in highly deformed domains due to rotation of fault n1nn , lσ 2 = l2ln + m2mn + n2nn , and lσ 3 = l3ln+ m3mn + n3nn . According
to Armijo et al (1982), the vector of the resolved shear stress on a
blocks and interaction between intersected faults (e.g. Nur et al.,
plane is
1986; Scotti, 1991; Nieto-Samaniego and Alaniz-Alvarez, 1997; Xu
et al., 2011, 2013). →
(
vsh = ( Vs1, Vs2, Vs3) = −kls2, ( 1 − k )ls1, ( R − k )lv ) (8)

where k ¼ ls12 þlv2R, and R ¼ (sv-ss2)/(ss1-ss2), where σv is the

3. Equations that form the basis of Slicken 1.0
In order to calculate the pitch (or rake) of a slickenline, a co-
ordinate system is defined in such a way that the positive X1, X2,
and X3-directions coincide with north, east, and vertical down-
ward, respectively (Fig. 2a). If a dip angle (α) and a dip direction
(φ) of a fault plane are known, the unit vector normal to the fault
pointing downwards is (e.g. Peacock and Sanderson, 1993).
vertical stress, σs1 is the maximum horizontal stress, and σs2is the
minimum horizontal stress. For the three different regimes of
faulting mechanism, we define ρ ¼ (s2  s3)/(s1 s3), ρ ∈ ⎡⎣ 0, 1⎤⎦,
where σ1 ≥ σ2 ≥ σ3. In the case of the regime of extension, sv ¼ s1,
ss1 ¼ s2, and ss2 ¼ s3, hence, the value R ¼1/ρ, k ¼ ls22 þls12R,
and
→
vsh = ( Vs1, Vs2, Vs3) = ( ( R − k)lσ1, ( 1 − k)lσ2, − klσ3) (9)

2 2 1
n
n
T
Sli n
3 3
1
1 2 3 p

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 1. (a) – (c) Projections of conjugate sets of faults in the lower hemisphere, Wulff net, of the associated principal stress in (a) Normal fault regimen, in (b) Reverse fault
→
regimen, in (c) Strike–slip fault regimen. (d) Oblique slip on a sliding plane based on Bott's theory. n – the unit vector normal to the plane, T– the stress vector on the plane
solved by the stress tensor, σn – the normal stress and τn – the shear stress on the plane.

Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
 H. Xu et al. / Computers & Geosciences ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎ 3

X1
North 1 (
X1 North

East X2 East
X2 2 (

u
3 (
X3
Downward X3 Downward

(a) (b)
Fig. 2. (a) Geographic reference axes (X1, X2, X3). X1–axis points northward, X2–axis points eastward, and X3–axis is oriented vertically downward φ is clockwise measured
from the geographic north (0 r φr 360). Plunge (δ) is positive when the end of u points downward (  90r δ r90). (b) The trend and plunge of the s1, s2 and s3 in the
coordinate system (X1, X2, X3) are (φ1, δ1), (φ2, δ2), and (φ3, δ3), respectively.

In the case of the regime of compression, sv ¼ s3, ss1 ¼ s1, and

ss2 ¼ s2, hence, the value R ¼  ρ/(1  ρ), k ¼ls12 þ ls32R, and North
→
vsh = ( Vs1, Vs2, Vs3) = ( ( 1 − k)lσ1, − klσ2, ( R − k)lσ3) (10)
f
e
Lastly, for the regime of strike–slip, sv ¼s2, ss1 ¼ s1, and rik
ss2 ¼s3, then, the value R ¼ ρ, k ¼ ls12 þls22R, and
St
s
→
vsh = ( Vs1, Vs2, Vs3) = ( ( 1 − k)lσ1, ( R − k)lσ2, ( −klσ3,)) (11) e
a g
For further analysis, the resulting vector from Eqs. (9)–(11)
needs to be converted into the geographic coordinate system. g

Because the axes X1, X2 and X3 are perpendicular to each other, the d
→ c
matrix Tr is an orthogonal matrix, and Tr  1 ¼ TrT . The vector vsh Dip
can be converted into the vector in the geographical coordinate dir
→ ect
system ( v g′ ) by ion
(
⎡ vg1 ⎤ ⎡l l l ⎤⎡ Vs1 ⎤ b
⎢ ⎥ −1 ⎢ 1 2 3 ⎥⎢ ⎥
v
vg′ = ⎢ g2 ⎥ = Tr Vsh = ⎢ m1 m2 m3⎥⎢ Vs2 ⎥
⎢⎣ vg 3⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ n1 n2 n3 ⎥⎦⎢⎣ V ⎥⎦ Fig. 3. Fault block diagram. Plane abdf is a fault plane on which ad is the slip line. α
s3 (12) is the dip angle of the fault; θ is the angle between the strike and the slip line on
→ the fault; δ is plunge angle of the slip line; φs is the fault strike; γ is the acute
Then, the unit vector of v g′ can be calculated by intersection angle between the dip direction of the fault and the trend of the slip
line.
⎡ v1g ⎤ →′
→ ⎢v ⎥ vg
vg = ⎢ 2g ⎥ = → the slip are defined by
′
⎢⎣ v3g ⎥⎦ ‖ v g ‖
(13) φp = φ − γ (17)
This is the unit vector of the resolved shear stress in the geo-
graphical coordinate system. According to Eq. (13), the plunge (δg) γp = θ (18)
of the vector ⇀ vg (possible slickenlines) is given by
For v3g 4 0 and cosθ r0, the trend (φp) and the rake (γp) of
δg = arcsin v3g (14) the slip are defined by
The angle between the dip direction (φ) of the fault plane and φp = φ + γ (19)
the trend of the slickenline is calculated by (see Xu et al., 2004;
Fig. 3) rp = θ (20)
(
γ = arccos tan δg / tan α ) (15) For v3g r 0 and cosθ 4 0, the values of φp and γp are calcu-
Let us define the strike of the plane φs ¼ φ  90°, the unit lated by the following equations
→
vector of the strike can be written as vs ¼ (cosφs, sinφs, 0) (All- φp = φ + γ (21)
mendinger et al., 2012). Then the angle between the strike and the
slip on the plane is
γp = 360 − θ (22)
→→
cos θ = vg ⋅ vs (16)
For v3g o 0 and cosθ r 0, the values of φp and γp are calcu-
For v3g Z 0 and cosθ 4 0, the trend (φp) and the rake (γp) of lated by the equations

Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
4 H. Xu et al. / Computers & Geosciences ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎
φp = φ − γ
γp = 360 − θ
(24)
For (Eqs. (14)–24), the angles are in degrees and their ranges
are: 0° r γ r90°,  90° r δg r90°, 0° r θ r180°, 0° r φp r 360°,
and 0° r γp r360°, respectively.
4. Description of the software
Slicken 1.0 is a program for applied geologists, engineers, stu-
dents and academics. The software is designed using Java SE 8.0,
thus it runs on most operating systems with the corresponding
Java VM. The general algorithm of the program is shown in Fig. 4.
For using Slicken 1.0 the user needs to know the direction cosines
of the principal stresses, which generally are obtained from fault-
slip data inversion, or direct measurements. For all cases, the input
data are: (a) dip direction and dip of the fault plane; (b) stress
ratio; (c) trend of s1, s2 and s3; and (d) plunge of s1, s2 and s3. In
all the cases, the decimal degree system is used for angular data.
Before the step of “Save data”, the rake error due to measurement
deviation is evaluated. It is done when a window will pop up to
remind user that the rake error is beyond the critical value. The
user can decide whether the calculated result is used.
The graphical user interface has one main window (Fig. 5). This
interface is comprised of two tabs; the first to input data for the
calculation, and the other with a brief instruction manual. The
output data include: the rake angle (γp), the trend (φp), the plunge
→ ε = arctan( tan ε0/ tan α )
angle (δg) and the unit vector ( n ) of the shear, and the unit vector
→
normal to the fault plane ( vg ). At the same time, the results are
displayed in the lower part of the interface.
For ease of use and reference, all input and output data can be
saved as custom .slc2 files for future application or re-calculation
(Fig. 5); they can be loaded from the Slicken 1.0 program for later
use. The program deals with each calculation as an object and
stores it in the RAM of the computer. Consequently, the program
can manipulate amounts of fault-slip data depending on the
memory of the host computer. The output data can be copied by
pressing CtrlþC.
5. Explanations for the “Warning pop-ups”
For the measurement deviations of 5° or below (Ragan, 2009,
p.9–15), the errors of resultant rakes obtained by the program are
Start: Calculation of orientation of fault slip
Regime: extension,
R=1/ , eqs.5-8,12-28
i
i
Regime: compresion,
R=-1/(1- ,eqs. 5-8,
13-28.
Input data:
Regime: strike slip, R =
eqs. 5-8, 14-28
Fig. 4. Sketch map showing flow process of the program Slicken 1.0.
Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
(23) shown in Fig. 6. For an error of 5° in dip angle, the rake errors are
less than 8° for the fault dip less than 80°. However, when the dip
is close to 90°, the errors dramatically increase (Fig. 6b). For an
error of 5° in dip direction, the rake errors are larger than 8° for
the regime of strike–slip, whereas the errors are generally less
than 5° for the regimes of extension and compression. For all re-
gimes of deformation, the errors are larger than 5° when the dip
direction approaches 90° or 0°, which is the trend of s1,s2 or s3
(Fig. 6a). Based on the above results, the program will display a
warning pop-up indicating that the resultant data may not be
accurate when θa o 5° and θb o 5° for the regimes of extension,
θb o5° and θc o 5° for the regime of compression, and θa o 5° and
θc o 5° for the regime of strike–slip. The value of θa is calculated
by
→→
θa = 180 − arccos( n3⋅ n ) (25)
The values of θb and θc are calculated by
→ →
θb = 180 − arccos( n2⋅ n ) (26)
→→
θc = 180 − arccos( n1⋅ n ) (27)
When, in measuring the strike or dip direction of a fault plane,
the compass is not held exactly horizontal then a direction of
strike will be measured that deviates from the true strike. The
maximum operator error, ε0 is 7 5° or less. For a plane with dip α,
the resultant strike error (ε) can be calculated by (Ragan, 2009,
p.14)
(28)
The calculated results from this equation show that for very
small dip angles, the maximum possible strike error is large and
approaches 90° as α - 0 (Fig. 7). For the extension regime, when ε
4 8°, the rake error due to the error of dip direction (ε) will be so
large that the inferred rake direction by using the program cannot
be used. On the other hand, for the compression and strike–slip
regimes, we denote the critical value of ε to be 10°. When clicking
the display button, a warning window will pop up.
The error function (28) is similar to that suggested by Wood-
cock (1976). By using plunge tolerance, Woodcock (1976) esti-
mated that potential strike errors are large on gently dipping
surfaces. It is better to use the system where the plunge and
plunge direction of the linear structure is recorded, because the
errors of plunge and plunge direction are commonly less than the
strike errors in the circumstances of gentle surfaces (Woodcock,
1976). Therefore, in the field works, we should measure the dip
Error analysis
Output
a p g p
b
Vg n
b
c
Save data
a
c
End
 H. Xu et al. / Computers & Geosciences ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎ 5

Fig. 5. The main window of the program Slicken 1.0.

(a)
Normal Reverse Strike slip Normal Reverse Strike slip (b)
fault regime fault regime fault regime fault regime fault regime fault regime

Fig. 6. Deviation of rake angle based on the error of the field measurement. (a). Rake error of the shear stress vector due to a deviation of 5° of the fault dip direction. The dip
angle of fault is 50°. (b) Rake error of the shear stress vector due to deviation of fault dip. Dip direction of the plane is 080° with the dip angle from 10° to 90° with error 5°of
dip angle. The fault dip is 50° with fault dip direction varying from 0°-90° with error of 5° of dip direction. For both figures, the value ρ is 0.5, and the orientations of the
principal stresses: for the normal fault regime: s1:180/90°, s2:000/00° and s3:090/00°; for the reverse fault regime: s1:000/00°, s2:090/00° and s3:180/90°; and for the
strike–slip regime: s1:000/00° s2:180/90° and s3:090/00°.

direction instead of the strike on a gentle fault plane.

When calculating the shear stress on a plane in any study area,
the accuracy of the rake of shear stress is dependent on the
measurement accuracy of dips and trends of the measured plane.
Given the above information, it would be useful to know how
sensitive a stress analysis program is to small variations in the
orientations of the fault planes and their slip directions.

6. Some test results

For the program Slicken 1.0 we define eight types of slip sense
according to the values of rake (γp): (1) Normal-sinistral:
Fig. 7. The maximum trend error (ε) for a fault plane arising from a measurement 5° o γp o 85°; (2) Normal-dextral: 95° o γp o175°; (3) Reverse-si-
error (ε0) of 2° and 3° as a function of the dip of the measured plane. nistral: 185° o γp o 265°; (4) Reverse-dextral: 275° o γp o355°.

Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
6 H. Xu et al. / Computers & Geosciences ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

Fig. 8. Rake of the shear stress vector under different tectonic regimes. ρ – stress ratio, φ –dip direction of the plane, and α–dip angle of the plane. In Fig. 8g and 8h, the
directions of the principal stresses are shown by their trends and plunges.

(5) Sinistral lateral: 0° r γp r 5° and 355° r γp r 360°, (6) Dextral
lateral: 175°r γp r185°; (7) Pure normal: 85° r γp r 95°; (8) Pure
reverse: 265° r γp r 275°. The test results for the given stress
states in Figs. 8a–f indicate that the slip direction can have a
strike–slip component in all three Andersonian tectonic regimes,
that a normal component of the slip can occur in both the ex-
tension and strike–slip Andersonian regimes, and that a reverse
component can occur in both the compression and strike–slip
Andersonian regimes. Nevertheless, under the three non-Ander-
sonian tectonic regimes, the dip component can be either reverse
or normal, depending on the values of the fault-plane dip direction
(φ), and dip angle (α), and the stress state (Figs. 8g and 8h). The
orientation fields between normal and reverse faults can be
marked out by the slip sense curves on stereogram for any stress
tensor (Lisle et al., 2001).
When the fault dip direction(φ) is close parallel to the principal
stresses, for small changes of the value of ϕ, the fault type of slip
sense will be different. For example, given stress state as s1: north
and s2: east, s3: downward, ρ ¼0.5, dip angle (α) ¼ 30°, then for
φ ¼90° (s1-parallel fault), rake (γp) is 270°, the fault shows pure
reverse sense, whereas for φ ¼98°, rake (γp) is 278°, the fault
shows reverse-dextral sense, and for φ ¼ 82°, rake (γp) is 262°, the
fault shows reverse-sinistral sense (Fig. 8c). These results imply
that the planes with orientation close to a principal plane of stress
have unstable shear stress direction greatly affected by small
changes in the plane orientation. This situation corresponds to
very low shear stress on the plane.
Note that in Slicken 1.0, the term ‘rake’ is used, rather than
‘pitch’. The rake and pitch are two terms for a measurement of a
slickenline on a fault surface. The convention of Slicken 1.0 is that
the angle of rake (γp) is measured clockwise within the fault plane
being considered, from the right strike when viewing the plane
from above (Fig. 9a). Nevertheless, the pitch is measured from the
two strikes to the slickenline or the shear regardless of the sense

Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
 H. Xu et al. / Computers & Geosciences ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎
(a)
270°
Rake 0° (360°)
Rake
Rake
180° Rake 90°
α
Fig. 9. Definitions for the rake (a) and the pitch (b) of slickenlines or shear on a fault.
of the slickenline (Fig. 9b).
7. Discussion
Slicken 1.0 is a direct method that follows the reverse proce-
dure to stress inversion methods. The software is used to predict
the slip directions (vectors) along faults under a stress field. Unlike
the stress inversion methods, software related to direct stress
methods are scarce in the community of geosciences, although a
software implementation for the calculation and graphical pre-
sentation of fault slip has been published (Pascal, 2004). Slicken
1.0 has three different aspects in comparing it to the software of
Pascal (2004). Firstly, Slicken 1.0 can run in a Windows environ-
ment and provides an easy-to-use graphical interface. Secondly,
Slicken 1.0 quantitatively produces data of fault slip instead of
graphic presentation. Thirdly, it does not require that one of the
principal stresses should be vertical.
Another technique involved direct stress approach is to de-
termine the slip tendency along a weakened surface (Morris et al.,
1996; Alaniz-Álvarez et al., 1998). Our method presented here
needs not parameters such as the absolute principal stresses, the
cohesion and friction of the plane of weakness that the slip po-
tential method uses. This means that the potential for slip depends
on the stress magnitudes, the fault orientation and the coefficient
of friction. However, the slip direction on a fault is dependent only
upon the stress ratio and the fault orientation. The Slick 1.0. deals
with non-Andersonian stress state. Our method is especially useful
to infer the sense of motion along subsurface faults that is difficult
to access. For example, in petroleum exploration, it is common
that only one component of fault displacement can be obtained. If
the slip direction on the fault can be inferred by the knowledge of
surrounding stress data, the other components of fault displace-
ment can be calculated by simple trigonometry.
8. Conclusions
The software presented here is a computer program that
quantitatively calculates orientations of slips on faults, for the
three different regimes with known applied stress field.
For calculation of the slip vector on any fault plane under a
known stress field, the necessary data are the unit vector normal
to the fault plane, and the unit vectors of the three principal
stresses and the stress ratio. The results of the calculation are valid
for both newly formed and reactivated faults. The stress state may
be determined by paleostress methods or in-situ stress measure-
ments. The program will automatically evaluate whether the
Please cite this article as: Xu, H., et al., Slicken 1.0: Program for calculating the orientation of shear on reactivated faults. Computers &
Geosciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015i
7
(b)
0°
Pitch
0° 90°
Pitch
α
measurement error of fault trend in the field works affect the re-
sults of the calculated values of slip vector on a plane. On the other
hand, it is a special case when the fault dip direction is parallel to
the principal stresses. Then, when the difference between the dip
direction and one of principal stresses is less than 5°, a pop-up will
remind user if the resultant data is used.
Acknowledgment
This work is supported by the Conacyt Projects 08967 and
8014. The helpful comments from Lisle, R.J. and an anonymous
reviewer are appreciated.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in
the online version at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.015.
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