Earth Stress and Subsurface Geoengineering

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we extend this invitation to contribute to a Special Issue of the Geoscience journal which will focus on the crucial intersection of Earth Stress and Subsurface Geoengineering.

1. Introduction
   Understanding the Earth's stress state at depth is fundamental to a wide variety of subsurface projects, ranging from seismology to underground energy storage or extraction. Knowledge of this stress state and its varying scales helps us to address various challenges as follows: at the crustal scale (>10 km), this aids in understanding seismic hazard and crustal-scale seismicity patterns; at the energy development scale (3-6 km), it informs hydrocarbon and geothermal resource exploration; at the reservoir scale (0.1-1 km), this sheds light on the induced seismicity arising from energy extraction; and at the borehole scale (up to 100 m), it addresses engineering issues which relate to casing shear and borehole stability. The interactions between earth stress and subsurface engineering operations can profoundly impact the safety, efficiency, and environmental sustainability of these projects.
2. Aim of the Special Issue:
   This Special Issue aims to explore the multifaceted relationship between earth stress and subsurface geoengineering, thus providing a platform for researchers to present innovative research, methodologies, and specific case studies. By exploring this intersection, we aim to advance our understanding of how earth stress influences subsurface processes and how engineering activities impact regional tectonics. The contributions to this Special Issue will address key questions, including the characterization of regional tectonic stress fields, the assessment of energy and resource extraction-induced seismicity risks, and the development of innovative strategies for mitigating geological hazards in subsurface operations. Ultimately, the findings presented in this Special Issue will contribute to the development of understanding in both geoscience and engineering, with practical implications for sustainable subsurface utilization and risk management.
3. Suggested themes and article types for submissions:
   In this Special Issue, we welcome original research articles and reviews which focus on a broad range of research areas, including (but not limited to) the following: the characterization of tectonic stresses, fault reactivation and seismic hazard assessment, energy resource extraction, induced seismicity, borehole engineering, geomechanics as this applies to geothermal energy, geomechanics applied to carbon storage, geomechanical modelling of subsurface stress distribution, and case studies, to name a few.
4. Submission requirement:
   We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, authors who are interesting in being published within this Special Issue initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–500 words, summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors (mauriced@uwaterloo.ca) or to the Geosciences editorial office (geosciences@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring the appropriateness and relevance of the paper within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a single-blind peer-reviewing process.

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions to this significant and timely Special Issue.

Sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Maurice B. Dusseault
Dr. Ali Yaghoubi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.