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Permeability of Limestone-Dolomite Composite Fracture Surfaces Van de Reep, Peter John
Abstract
The transport properties of fault zones are critically important in predicting subsurface fluid behavior in deformed rocks and understanding fold and thrust belts. Limestone-dolomite composite rocks are common components of fold and thrust belts and are also productive reservoir rocks for hydrocarbons. This study develops a methodology for measuring the permeability of experimentally induced fracture surfaces in limestone-dolomite composite rocks. Cores of rocks from the Mount Head Formation and the Fairholme Group of southern Alberta were deformed at a confining pressure of 25 MPa in a triaxial rock press. Fluid ports were drilled in the deformed cores to ensure direct fluid access to the fracture surface. The transient pulse decay method was used to determine the permeability of the fractures. Experimental difficulties resulted in only two permeabilities being derived from experimentation. Modeling of the transient pulse decay for the fracture surfaces shows permeabilities of 4•10-17 m2 for predominantly dolomite and 8•10-17 m2 for dolomitic limestone. Lower permeability in the dolomite end member is thought to be due to very fine comminution in the fracture gouge caused by highly focused strain with little distributed strain outside of the fracture itself. Increasing heterogeneity in a rock increases the distributed strain, causing an increase in permeability. This study serves as an initial development in the ability to measure the permeability of fracture surfaces. Increasing precision and accuracy of measurements is expected with further research.
Item Metadata
Title |
Permeability of Limestone-Dolomite Composite Fracture Surfaces
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Creator | |
Date Issued |
2009-04-08
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Description |
The transport properties of fault zones are critically important in predicting subsurface fluid
behavior in deformed rocks and understanding fold and thrust belts. Limestone-dolomite
composite rocks are common components of fold and thrust belts and are also productive
reservoir rocks for hydrocarbons. This study develops a methodology for measuring the
permeability of experimentally induced fracture surfaces in limestone-dolomite composite rocks.
Cores of rocks from the Mount Head Formation and the Fairholme Group of southern Alberta
were deformed at a confining pressure of 25 MPa in a triaxial rock press. Fluid ports were drilled
in the deformed cores to ensure direct fluid access to the fracture surface. The transient pulse
decay method was used to determine the permeability of the fractures. Experimental difficulties
resulted in only two permeabilities being derived from experimentation. Modeling of the
transient pulse decay for the fracture surfaces shows permeabilities of 4•10-17 m2 for
predominantly dolomite and 8•10-17 m2 for dolomitic limestone. Lower permeability in the
dolomite end member is thought to be due to very fine comminution in the fracture gouge caused
by highly focused strain with little distributed strain outside of the fracture itself. Increasing
heterogeneity in a rock increases the distributed strain, causing an increase in permeability. This
study serves as an initial development in the ability to measure the permeability of fracture
surfaces. Increasing precision and accuracy of measurements is expected with further research.
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Extent |
1513709 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Series | |
Date Available |
2009-04-09
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0053580
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Campus | |
Citation |
Van de Reep, Peter John. 2009. Permeability of Limestone-Dolomite Composite Fracture Surfaces. Undergraduate Honours Thesis. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences. University of British Columbia.
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Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Undergraduate
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Copyright Holder |
Van de Reep, Peter John
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International