Name a source of vertical stress in geology.

• A. Lateral Stress
• B. Overburden
• C. Poisson's Ratio
• D. Shear Stress

Answer: (B)

Vertical stress comes from the weight of everything above you. In geology, this load from the overlying rock layers creates pressure at depth, often called overburden pressure or lithostatic pressure, and it increases with depth according to roughly ρ g h. That direct weight of the overlying material is why deeper rocks experience higher vertical stress. The other ideas describe different concepts: horizontal or lateral stress arises from forces pushing or pulling sideways, Poisson's ratio is a material property that links how a rock deforms in perpendicular directions under stress, and shear stress is the tangential component of stress that tends to cause sliding, not a source of vertical load.