Multi-scale Fracturing Related to Deformation and Structural Inheritance within the Middle Pennsylvanian to Middle Permian Belloy Formation and related units, east-central British Columbia

Nine main fracture orientations are observed in outcrop and subsurface data in east-central British Columbia. Fractures parallel and conjugate to the maximum principal stress direction (050°, sigma 1) and the regional structural trend (320°, sigma2) are related to Laramide-age folding and thrusting. Other fracture orientations may reflect structural inheritance due to later fault reactivation of Pennsylvanian-Permian sub-basin boundaries.;Oblique 010° set fractures are localized and dominate parallel to sub-basin margins. They served as conduits for hydrothermal dolomitizing fluids, localizing development of the favoured reservoir facies.;Each fracture or lineament set is present at the micro-, meso- and macroscales, and densities and orientations are comparable for data collected in similar structural positions, indicating a local tectonic origin. Fracture density and intensity are controlled by proximity to basin bounding faults, hinges of folds, and lithology. Dolostone facies have the most fractures of any rock type in this study whereas mudstone has the fewest.