Stress-field evaluation by geostructural and geomechanical prospection: The case history of the machaerus rock-mass (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)

On the bases of a field geostructural and geomechanical survey, we evaluate the stress field and structural regime responsible for the deformation of the rock-mass in the Machaerus area, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea Transform Fault. The resulted data are compared to those from deep mines and base tunnels in order to evaluate the potentiality of using geostructural data to envisage the stress-field for new geoengeneering projects. It resulted the Machareus rock mass was deformed at a depth of about 500-900 m with a deviatoric stresses of the order of sigma (1) =15 MPa, sigma (2) =10 MPa and sigma (3) =-25 MPa, being sigma (3) vertical. The stress field orientation is consistent with the left-lateral kinematics of the nearby Dead-Sea transform fault.