29.09.

2015

ROCK DESCRIPTION
Part I

Rock samples

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Checklist:
Grain parameter:

1.
a)
b)
c)

Size
Sorting
Roundness & Sphericity

Mineralogy

2.
a)

Carbonatic, .

3.

Grain contact

4.

Grain binding

5.

Sediment structures

6.

Pore space

7.

(Diagenetic features)

1. Grain size
Symbol

Analogy

Y
> hens egg

gG
mG

Hazelnut - hens egg

Pea - hazelnut

fG

Pea Match head

vcS

Match head

cS

Match head - semolina

mS

Semolina

fS

Flour

vfS

< Flour

gU
mU

Invisible to naked eye

Sensible between
fingers or tooth

fU
vfU

Invisible to naked eye

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Grain
size

Hens
egg
coarse

Hazelnut

medium

Pea

fine
coarse

Sand

Gravel

Gravel

Blcoks

1. Grain size

Silt

fine

Clay

sensible

(Sebastian, 2012)

Match head

medium

Semolina

invisible
not sensible

1. Sorting

1. Roundness & Sphericity

(Tucker,1988)

(Pettijohn, 1987)

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2. Mineralogy
Quartz
Plagioclase
Orthoclase
Calcite
Dolomite
Anhydrite
Gypsum
Halite
Talc
Muscovite
Biotite
Hematite

H=7 (scratches knife or hammer), conchoidal fracture, no cleavage, milky white

H=6 (hard as knife/hammer), cleavage face, similar properties to orthoclase,
white or gray
H=6 (hard as knife/hammer), cleavage face, similar properties to plagioclase,
salmon pink
H=3 (scratched with knife/hammer), reacts with HCl, cleavage face, white
H=4 (scratched with knife/hammer), reacts with HCl in its powdered form,
similar properties to calcite, grey
H=3.5, (easily scratched with knife/hammer), exposed to water -> gypsum,
fibrous, perfect cleavage, white (greyish, bluish)
H=2, (scratched with fingernail), white
H=2.5, salt", water soluble, cannot be scratched with a fingernail, salty taste
H=1, (easily scratched with fingernail), white
Mica, perfect basal cleavage, shiny sheets, light brown
Mica, perfect basal cleavage, sheets, brown or black
Rust, dull red

2. Mineralogy

(www.thesciencequeen.net)

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2. Carbonatic
Field carbonate determination

Effects

Carbonate
content

No bubbles

<1%

Few bubbles

<5%

Bubbles

<10 %

Many
bubbles

>10 %
(www.sassa.org.uk)

(www.worldofchemicals.com)

3. Grain contact

(Nichols, 2009)

4. Grain binding

(earthsci.org)

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5. Sediment structures
Stratification:

(www.engr.usask.ca)

Grading:

(Nichols, 2009)

6. Pore space estimation

water

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Exercise: Rock description

Characterize at least 3 rocks after the checklist and

identify the rock type

Use the field data card

Exercise: Sedimentary rock classification

Sandstone classification after Folk:
Use the data from given mineralogical compositions: Mark them in
the ternary diagram and classify them.
Mineral

Sample A

Sample B

Sample C

Quartz

70

10

50

Feldspar

30

80

30

Clay Clast

10

10

Basaltic Fragment

10

TYPE

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Sedimentary rock classification

FACIES ZONES
Depositional environments

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Depositional environment
Continental: land / fresh water
Fluvial: stream or river
Alluvial: flash floods and intermittent streams in mountainous environments
Glacial: glaciers
Eolian: wind
Lacustrine: Lake (finely laminated clastic sediments)

Mixed: fresh water / air / marine water

Deltaic: mouths of large rivers
Esturine: valleys drowned by rising sea level
Lagoonal: waters separating barrier islands from the shore
Beach: shallowest marine water influenced by waves

Marine: Only sea water

Shallow marine clastic: near river mouths
Carbonate shelf: clear water (shallow for sunlight, skeletons of marine organisms)
Continental slope: submarine landslides
Deep marine: slow accumulation of skeletons and clasts dropped into the ocean

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Continental deposits

Fluvial deposits

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Fluvial deposits

d) Reservoir

Reding (1986)

11

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Nondeltaic, shallow marine deposit

Nondeltaic, shallow marine deposit

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Sedimentary Environment
Process

Sedimentary Facies
Response

Physical (tectonism,

Geometry of deposit

gravity, wave activity,..)

Chemical (solution,
precipitation,..)
Biological (bioturbation,..)

Primary sediment properties

Water depth / chemistry

Derived sediment properties

Climate
Depositional material

(texture, mineralogical
composition,..)

(porosity, permeability,
radioactivity,..)

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Exercise: Facies zones

Well information:
%
Well Thickness [m]
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

120
220
30
40
117
200
121
109
225
231
35
118

Sandstone

Shale

Carbonate

9
22
81
80
10
20
75
7
20
17
74
9

7
56
12
8
15
60
7
22
75
79
11
14

84
22
7
12
75
20
18
71
5
4
15
77

Clastic
ratio

Sand:
Shale
ratio

Facies

Exercise: Lithofacies

14

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Depositional environment

Nichols, 2009

Carbonate coastal environment

Lagoon

Barrier
Nichols, 2009

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Carbonate coastal environment - arid

Evaporites
Lagoon

Barrier
Nichols, 2009

CARBONATES

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Components:
Biogenic:
Molluscs
Foraminifera
Algae
Corals

Micrite
Cement

Abiogenic:
Ooids
Peloids
Intraclasts

Typical appearance of some fossils

Gastropods

Bivalves
calcite
aragonite

structure
obtained

or
relict structure

coarse crystals

coarse crystals

Brachiopods

Echinodermata
variable shape

Foraminifera
variable shape

Structure
obtained

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Carbonate classification

Carbonate classification

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Facies zones

Facies zones

Sarg, 1988

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Facies zones

Porosity classification

Adams & McKenzie, 1988

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Porosity classification

Weber & Geuns, 2005

Frequency reservoir rocks

Economic relevance

Sandstones

Carbonate
rocks

Flgel, 1989

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Economic relevance
Shelf edge

Shelf
Tide
Calcareous
carbonates
sand

Shelf Oolith
Reef Shelf
carbonates barrs
carbonates

Shelf
edge
reef

Slope &
Basin
sediments

Frequency

Flgel, 1989

Economic relevance
Frequency of examples (38 oil-/gas fields

Porosity in reef limestones

Initial porosity
Solution pores (vados)
Solution pores
Intercrystalline pores (dolomite)
Fissure porosity
Burial diagenesis

Flgel, 1989

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FRACTURES

Characteristics, definitions, and origins of Natural

Fractures
Term

Definition

Fracture Discontinuity caused by brittle failure in

a rock (includes all the features defined
below)

Identifying Characteristics
Distinct discontinuity that postdates formation of the rock.

Crack

Individual, isolated fracture showing no

shearing offset. May be natural or
induced).

Isolated (not necessarily part of a

set).
No shear offset.

Joint

One of a group (set) of naturally

occurring, spaced, parallel fractures
showing no shearing offset. In stratified
rock, joints are usually at a high angle to
layering. Joint sets are extensive.
Multiple joint sets form a joint system.

No shear offset.
At high angle to bedding in
sedimentary rocks.

Fault

Naturally occurring fracture along which

opposite sides have been displaced
parallel to the fracture surface.

Shear offset.
Fault induced deformation
adjacent to fault.

Vein

Fracture filled by precipitated

mineralization.

Mineral-filled fracture.

With parallel fractures forms a set.

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Characteristics, definitions, and origins of Natural

Fractures
Term

Definition

Deformation Planar, failure-induced discontinuities

Band
containing disaggregated or broken
particles of host rock.
They form in porous, granular strata.
They are usually small-offset faults,
but they have been seen with no
detectable offset.

Identifying Characteristics
Shear offset (typically), braided
appearance.
Occur in groups with parallel, and
frequently conjugate, faults.
Occur in porous, granular strata.

They often occur in parallel groups

(sets), and are commonly conjugate.

Narr et al. (2006)

Fractures

Joints resulted from cooling

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Faults

berschiebung (thrust fault)

Faults

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Bedding planes
Verkippte Schichtung (dipping beds)
Horizontale Schichtung
(horizontal bedding)

Vertikale Schichtung
(vertical bedding)

Orientation of structural elements

Strike: the compass direction of a line formed

by the intersection of an inclined plane with a
horizontal plane (deviation of the horizontal
from N: area 0 - 180)
Dip direction: the compass direction in which
the angle of dip is measured
Angle of dip: a measurement downward
from the horizontal plane to the bedding plane

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CLAR-Compass

Deckelkante dient zum

Einmessen von Linearen

Dosenlibelle zur
Horizontierung

(double-circuit designed compass)

Neigungsmesser
schwarz

!!

Deckel dient als

Anlegeflche bei
Flchenmessungen

rot

Arretiertaste

Horizontalkreis
(Ablesung des Azimutes)

Deckelkante dient zum

Einmessen von Linearen

Ablesemarke fr
Fallwinkel
rot

Vertikalkreis

Measurement of a plane
(Clar-compass)

Positioning of the lid on a geological plane

Levelling

Reading
1) Vertical circle:
dip (0-90)
Attention on the sector (red or black)

2) Horizontal circle: dip direction (0-360)

Attention:
red sector = red needle
black sector = black needle

Notation:

F 135/50

dip direction

dip

(always 3-digit, e.g. 010!)

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Fractures in boreholes
Core

Image Logs

Fracture description should be done from

whole core (before it is slabbed).

Two natural fracture sets

intersecting in horizontal core
(Spraberry trend)
Resistivity image log

Fractures in boreholes
Oriented Coring Tools
The orientation is established relative to magnetic north by means of one
(or three) scribed grooves knifed into the core.
Inclination and azimuth of borehole are recorded.

Scribing Knife

Halliburton CorientingTM Services

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Fractures in boreholes
Distinguishing natural and drilling (coring) induced fractures
Cross-section of a wellbore showing orientation
of breakouts and induced hydraulic and
centerline fractures.
Breakouts form in response to the min. and
max. stress components that are oriented
perpendicular to the wellbore.
These components may or may not be principal
stresses depending on the orientation of the
wellbore relative to the in-situ stressfield.

a) Disc Fractures

b) Petal Fractures
c) Centerline Fr.

Fractures in boreholes (Image Logs)

FMI Schlumberger
The FMI tool generates an electrical image
of the borehole from 192 microresistivity
measurements.

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Fractures in boreholes
High Resolution
Acoustic Televiewer

Image Logs can provide data

from intervals with core loss

http://www.geologging.com

Fractures in boreholes
Detection of open fractures
In water-based mud, resistivity logs are able to distinguish
open fractures (filled with low-resistive mud filtrate) from
sealed fractured (filled with resistive minerals).
Open: Conductive mud filtrate

Bedding

Open
fractures

Sealed: resistive mineralization

Bedding

Sealed
fractures

Resistivity
high

low
Narr et al. (2006)

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Fractures in boreholes

Resistivity Image Log

Core

Picture are from

same interval!

Open fractures (dark sinusoids)

unwrapped

Whole core

Fractures in boreholes
Dipmeter Scheme
(Courtesy of Dresser Atlas)

Borehole
Borehole Deviation
Angle

Azimuth Angle
Borehole
Calipers
Elektrode Pad Assembly
Correlation Curves

Formation
Bedding Plane

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Fractures in boreholes
Orientation: Spatial organization of fracture orientation
Tadpole diagram: Shows spatial
distribution of fractures.
Head shows depth and dip magnitude.
Tail shows dip direction.

(a) Tadpole log showing fracture and

bedding orientation with measured depth
in a well.
(b) Fracture planes displayed along a well
trajectory using 3D visualization software.

Determ. of Stress Orientation & Magnitude in Deep Wells

SHmax=101+/-10

SHmax=102+/-10

SHmax=107+/-11

SHmax=97+/-9

SHmax=97+/-11

SHmax=100+/-10

Zoback et al. (2003)

Stress orientation in wells in the Visund field determined with drilling-induced

tensile fractures (Wiprut & Zoback, 2000). The tensile fractures reveal a
remarkably uniform stress orientation within and between the wells.

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Rose diagram
Frequency of directions of joints
Overview of prevailing strike directions and their frequency

Case Study (Spraberry)

Spraberry Trend
Fractured Resevoir in Texas

Discovery: 1949 largest oil field in world

Basin: Midland Basin
Age: Permian
Depo. Env.: submarine fans,
basin plane deposits
Poro:
6-14%
Matrix Perm:0.05 md
Eff. Perm: 1-200 md

Schechter, D.S. (2002) Advanced reservoir characterization and evaluation of CO2 gravity
drainage in the naturally fractured Spraberry trend area. Final Technical Report, 5612 pp.
(http://www.pe.tamu.edu/schechter/baervan/Final/finalreport.pdf

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Case Study (Spraberry)

Spraberry Fm. is subdivided into

Upper Spraberry Fm.
Middle Spraberry Fm.
Lower Spraberry Fm.
The Upper Spraberry Fm. includes 2 productive horizons (1U, 5U)
separated by 44 m of (sandy shale)

E.T. ODaniel #28

downhole
Lorenz, J.C., Sterling, J.L., Schechter, D.S.,
Wigham, C.L., Jensen, J.L. 2002. Natural fractures
in the Spraberry Formation, Midland Basin, TX: The
efects of mechanical stratigraphy on fracture
variability and reservoir behavior. AAPG Bull. 92,
999-1030.

Case Study (Spraberry)

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Case Study (Spraberry)

E.T. ODaniel #28

Case Study (Spraberry)

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Case Study (Spraberry)

1U Fractures

5U Fractures

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