Abstract:Modern scanning electron microscopes often include software that allows for the possibility of obtaining large format high-resolution image montages over areas of several square centimeters. Such montages are typically automatically acquired and stitched, comprising many thousand individual tiled images. Images, collected over a regular grid pattern, are a rich source of information on factors such as variability in porosity and distribution of mineral phases, but can be hard to visually interpret. Additional quantitative data can be accessed through the application of image analysis. We use backscattered electron (BSE) images, collected from polished thin sections of two limestone samples from the Cretaceous of Brazil, a Carboniferous limestone from Scotland, and a carbonate cemented sandstone from Northern Ireland, with up to 25,000 tiles per image, collecting numerical quantitative data on the distribution of porosity. Images were automatically collected using the FEI software Maps, batch processed by image analysis (through ImageJ), with results plotted on 2D contour plots with MATLAB. These plots numerically and visually clearly express the collected porosity data in an easily accessible form, and have application for the display of other data such as pore size, shape, grain size/shape, orientation and mineral distribution, as well as being of relevance to sandstone, mudrock and other porous media.

Repository designs frequently favour geological disposal of radioactive waste with a backfill material occupying void space around the waste. The backfill material must tolerate the high temperatures produced by decaying radioactive waste to prevent its failure or degradation, leading to increased hydraulic conductivity and reduced sealing performance. The results of four experiments investigating the effect of temperature on the permeability of a bentonite backfill are presented. Bentonite is a clay commonly proposed as the backfill in repository designs because of its high swelling capacity and very low permeability. The experiments were conducted in two sets of purpose-built, temperature controlled apparatus, designed to simulate isotropic pressure and constant volume conditions within the testing range of 4-6 MPa average effective stress. The response of bentonite during thermal loading at temperatures up to 200 • C was investigated, extending the previously considered temperature range. The results provide details of bentonite's intrinsic permeability, total stress, swelling pressure and porewater pressure during thermal cycles. We find that bentonite's hydraulic properties are sensitive to thermal loading and the type of imposed boundary condition. However, the permeability change is not large and can mostly be accounted for by water viscosity changes. Thus, under 150 • C, temperature has a minimal impact on bentonite's hydraulic permeability.

Due to its favourable properties, in particular, low permeability and swelling capacity, bentonite has been favoured as an engineered-barrier and backfill material for the geological storage of radioactive waste. To ensure its safe long-term performance it is important to understand any changes in these properties when the material is subject to heat-emitting waste. As such, this study investigates the hydraulic response of bentonite under multi-step thermal loading subject to a constant-volume boundary condition, to represent a barrier system used in a crystalline or other hard-rock host rock. The experimental set up allows continuous measurement of the hydraulic and mechanical responses during each phase of the thermal cycle. After the initial hydration of the bentonite, the temperature was raised in 20°C increments from 20 to 80°C followed by a final step to reach 120°C. Each temperature was held constant for at least 7-10 days to allow the hydraulic transients to equilibrate. The data suggest that the permeability of bentonite appears to be sensitive to changes in temperature which may extend beyond those explained by simple changes in water viscosity. However, permeability may be boundary-condition dependent and this should be considered when designing experiments or applying these results to other repository host rocks. Either way, the magnitude of the change in permeability observed in this study is minor and its impact on the hydraulic performance of the barrier is negligible.

Automated scanning electron microscopy image collection from geological polished thin sections, in conjunction with autonomous stitching, can be used to construct high-resolution (micron- to submicron-resolution) image montages over areas up to several square centimeters. The technique is here applied to an oolitic limestone and a carbonate laminite to illustrate its application as a tool to study carbonate porosity and diagenesis. Montages constructed from backscattered images are ideally suited to the extraction of data on microporosity, with possibilities including the construction of contoured maps to illustrate the spatial variation in porosity; the construction of porosity logs to illustrate trends in porosity across thin sections; and stochastic construction of digital rock models, for subsequent permeability calculation. Montages taken with a gaseous secondary electron detector in low-vacuum mode can utilize charge contrast imaging (CCI) at a variety of scales and were used here in examining the evolution of carbonate cementation. One example is oolitic limestone, illustrating the formation of grain-lining and pore-occluding cements, as well as recrystallization of the depositional fabric. CCI montages commonly suffer from a variety of contrast and brightness artifacts due to variation in charge distribution across the individual scanned image tiles. Several remedies are discussed that can reduce these artifacts, making it easier to apply image analysis techniques across such montages.