Factors controlling permeability of cataclastic deformation bands and faults in porous sandstone reservoirs

Ballas, Grégory; Fossen, Haakon; Soliva, Roger

doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2015.03.013

Cited by 128 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Our study has also shown that compaction localization in sandstone—compaction band formation—is time dependent. Therefore, in sandstone reservoirs with a well‐sorted grain size distribution, compaction bands can develop gradually (at a rate dependent on the magnitude of the prevalent stress) but then suddenly and severely impact permeability [e.g., Baud et al ., ; Deng et al ., ; Ballas et al ., ]. Flow simulation modeling has suggested that the presence of compaction bands can exert a profound influence on subsurface flow at scales relevant to aquifer and reservoir production [ Sternlof et al ., ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These geological features, in which the deformation is dominantly or purely compactant, have been documented in detail in aeolian sandstone formations in Nevada (USA) [ Hill , ; Aydin and Ahmadov , ; Sternlof et al ., ; Eichhubl et al ., ] and Utah (USA) [ Mollema and Antonellini , ] and can reach tens of meters in planar extent [ Tembe et al ., , and references therein]. In the context of reservoirs and aquifers, the importance of compaction bands is exemplified by their substantial impact on fluid flow and reservoir compartmentalization [e.g., Borja and Aydin , ; Sternlof et al ., ; Ballas et al ., , ; Deng et al ., ]. The formation of compaction bands in sandstone has also been extensively studied in the laboratory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Time‐dependent compaction band formation in sandstone

et al. 2015

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Compaction bands in sandstone are laterally extensive planar deformation features that are characterized by lower porosity and permeability than the surrounding host rock. As a result, this form of localization has important implications for both strain partitioning and fluid flow in the Earth's upper crust. To better understand the time dependency of compaction band growth, we performed triaxial deformation experiments on water‐saturated Bleurswiller sandstone (initial porosity = 0.24) under constant stress (creep) conditions in the compactant regime. Our experiments show that inelastic strain accumulates at a constant stress in the compactant regime, manifest as compaction bands. While creep in the dilatant regime is characterized by an increase in porosity and, ultimately, an acceleration in axial strain rate to shear failure, compaction creep is characterized by a reduction in porosity and a gradual deceleration in axial strain rate. The global decrease in the rates of axial strain, acoustic emission energy, and porosity change during creep compaction is punctuated at intervals by higher rate excursions, interpreted as the formation of compaction bands. The growth rate of compaction bands formed during creep is lower as the applied differential stress, and hence, background creep strain rate, is decreased. However, the inelastic strain associated with the growth of a compaction band remains constant over strain rates spanning several orders of magnitude (from 10−8 to 10−5 s−1). We find that despite the large differences in strain rate and growth rate (from both creep and constant strain rate experiments), the characteristics (geometry and thickness) of the compaction bands remain essentially the same. Several lines of evidence, notably the similarity between the differential stress dependence of creep strain rate in the dilatant and compactant regimes, suggest that as for dilatant creep, subcritical stress corrosion cracking is the mechanism responsible for compactant creep in our experiments. Our study highlights that stress corrosion is an important mechanism in the time‐dependent porosity loss, subsidence, and permeability reduction of sandstone reservoirs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time‐dependent compaction band formation in sandstone

et al. 2015

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“…Permeability of the fault zone corresponds to those measured in laboratory tests [86] and to those previously used in similar models [77,87,88]. A permeability of Kc = 10 −18 m 2 , such as the one observed in thin cataclastic textures [89], is applied to the core zone. The same permeability of Kd = 10 −14 m 2 is applied to the two lateral damage zones.…”

Section: Model Set-upmentioning

confidence: 96%

Fault-Related Controls on Upward Hydrothermal Flow: An Integrated Geological Study of the Têt Fault System, Eastern Pyrénées (France)

et al. 2017

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The way faults control upward fluid flow in nonmagmatic hydrothermal systems in extensional context is still unclear. In the Eastern Pyrénées, an alignment of twenty-nine hot springs (29 ∘ C to 73 ∘ C), along the normal Têt fault, offers the opportunity to study this process. Using an integrated multiscale geological approach including mapping, remote sensing, and macro-and microscopic analyses of fault zones, we show that emergence is always located in crystalline rocks at gneiss-metasediments contacts, mostly in the Têt fault footwall. The hot springs distribution is related to high topographic reliefs, which are associated with fault throw and segmentation. In more detail, emergence localizes either (1) in brittle fault damage zones at the intersection between the Têt fault and subsidiary faults or (2) in ductile faults where dissolution cavities are observed along foliations, allowing juxtaposition of metasediments. Using these observations and 2D simple numerical simulation, we propose a hydrogeological model of upward hydrothermal flow. Meteoric fluids, infiltrated at high elevation in the fault footwall relief, get warmer at depth because of the geothermal gradient. Topography-related hydraulic gradient and buoyancy forces cause hot fluid rise along permeability anisotropies associated with lithological juxtapositions, fracture, and fault zone compositions.

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“…Reductions in transmissivity through the formation of cataclastic shear bands in porous sandstones are well known (e.g., Ballas et al, 2015).…”

Section: 1002/2017jb014858mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies on "hard" rocks that reported a marked decrease in crack transmissivity with shearing, and attributed it to the formation of frictional wear products, include Faoro et al (2009) for diorite and novaculite and Tanikawa et al (2010) for porous sandstone. Reductions in transmissivity through the formation of cataclastic shear bands in porous sandstones are well known (e.g., Ballas et al, 2015).…”

Section: Influence Of Shear Stress At Constant Interfacial Normal Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Normal and Shear Stress on the Hydraulic Transmissivity of Thin Cracks in a Tight Quartz Sandstone, a Granite, and a Shale

Rutter

Mecklenburgh

2018

JGR Solid Earth

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Transmissivity of fluids along fractures in rocks is reduced by increasing normal stress acting across them, demonstrated here through gas flow experiments on Bowland shale, and oil flow experiments on Pennant sandstone and Westerly granite. Additionally, the effect of imposing shear stress at constant normal stress was determined, until frictional sliding started. In all cases, increasing shear stress causes an accelerating reduction of transmissivity by 1 to 3 orders of magnitude as slip initiated, as a result of the formation of wear products that block fluid pathways. Only in the case of granite, and to a lesser extent in the sandstone, was there a minor amount of initial increase of transmissivity prior to the onset of slip. These results cast into doubt the commonly applied presumption that cracks with high resolved shear stresses are the most conductive. In the shale, crack transmissivity is commensurate with matrix permeability, such that shales are expected always to be good seals. For the sandstone and granite, unsheared crack transmissivity was respectively 2 and 2.5 orders of magnitude greater than matrix permeability. For these rocks crack transmissivity can dominate fluid flow in the upper crust, potentially enough to permit maintenance of a hydrostatic fluid pressure gradient in a normal (extensional) faulting regime.

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Factors controlling permeability of cataclastic deformation bands and faults in porous sandstone reservoirs

Cited by 128 publications

References 76 publications

Time‐dependent compaction band formation in sandstone

Time‐dependent compaction band formation in sandstone

Fault-Related Controls on Upward Hydrothermal Flow: An Integrated Geological Study of the Têt Fault System, Eastern Pyrénées (France)

Influence of Normal and Shear Stress on the Hydraulic Transmissivity of Thin Cracks in a Tight Quartz Sandstone, a Granite, and a Shale

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