SELF-ORGANIZATION OF NATURAL MODE-I FRACTURE

APERTURES INTO POWER-LAW DISTRIBUTIONS

Julia Gale
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78713

ABSTRACT: Opening-mode fractures in siliciclastic and carbonate host rocks from different geologic settings consistently show
power-law aperture-size distributions when measured along one-dimensional scanlines. Exponents (slopes) and pre-exponential
coefficients (intensities) of the power laws, were compared in order to constrain the range of fracture intensities of various aperture
sizes over the observation scales. The coefficients range over two orders of magnitude, from 0.1 to 62.4, and the exponents range
from -0.45 to -1.36. On a compilation plot of power laws a broad wedge-shaped envelope defines the natural range of frequencies
of fractures for aperture sizes from approximately 1000 to 0.01 mm. There is an inverse correlation between the coefficient and
exponent for most of the data sets. Power laws having steep slopes tend to have low intensities, whereas power laws having
shallow slopes tend to have higher intensities. There are, however, a few exceptions to this correlation. The reasons for the
correlation and the departures from it are considered in the light of geologic and mechanical properties at the time of fracture
formation for each case. The subcritical crack index, mechanical layer thickness, total strain and strain rate are all likely controls
over the relative proportion of narrow to wide fractures in a population.

which is the slope of the curves and is negative. The

1. INTRODUCTION
Empirical studies have shown that the aperture sizes
of opening-mode fractures within a single set are
self-organized into power-law distributions [1-3].
Power-law aperture-size distributions ranging over
five orders of magnitude have been reported in
sandstone and limestone [1] and over three orders of
magnitude in dolomites [4]. The range over which
power-law distributions apply is typically that
observed at the field outcrop scale down to
microfractures; on the order of 1 m to 1 μm. Small
and large opening-mode fractures that have the
same orientation may be different size fractions of
the same fracture set.
Power-law descriptions of fracture aperture
populations take the form: F = ab-c, where F is
cumulative fracture frequency, a is the coefficient, b
is the fracture aperture, and c is the exponent of the
power-law relationship. At any given aperture size,
the intensity of fractures is defined by the pre-
exponential coefficient, which governs the position
of the curves on the ordinate, and the exponent,
exponent reflects the relative proportions of wide
and narrow fractures in the population. A small
exponent (shallow slope) indicates a fracture
population with few narrow fractures relative to
wide fractures, whereas a large exponent (steep
slope) indicates a population with a large number of
narrow fractures relative to wide fractures. The
values of the exponent and coefficient are different
for different fracture sets but the range and reasons
for the variation have not been addressed
previously.
The aim of this contribution is to present a
compilation of opening-mode fracture aperture-size
data sets so that the aperture-size distributions from
different rocks may be compared and the range of
intensities of naturally occurring fractures of
different aperture sizes may be constrained. The
size-range of fractures studied in each set includes
small sealed fractures and larger open fractures.
Possible geologic and mechanical reasons for
variation in the aperture-size distributions are then
considered in the light of properties in effect at the
time of fracturing.
2. GEOLOGIC SETTING OF FRACTURE SETS continuous for about 300 m, normal to the ENE
fracture trend, but the total outcrop height is limited
The fracture sets examined in this paper are from a
to 2 m. The outcrop is approximately 10 m wide
wide variety of geologic settings. For all data sets a
across the creek bed, parallel to the fracture trend.
brief description of the geology is given but in the
Fracture-aperture and spacing-size distributions
interest of brevity, geological maps and sections are
were obtained using a scanline in the lower chalk
not included. The main variables for the fracture
layer [5]. Mechanical thickness of the fractured
data sets are compared (Table 1). Some fracture sets
layer is difficult to establish because the lower part
occur in outcrops, others are from the subsurface
of the layer is not exposed. The upper boundary to
cores and there is a mix of siliciclastic and
the layer is also problematic because some fractures
carbonate host rock lithologies. Where data have
truncate at the marl layer, whereas others propagate
been extracted from previously published work,
through the marl into chalk above [6]. Typically,
references for these studies are indicated (Table 1).
marl-chalk cycles near the top of the Austin Chalk
are of the order of 1 m thick [7] and this would
2.1. Austin Chalk, Grove Creek
represent a minimum mechanical thickness if
The Grove Creek outcrop is near Waxahachie, north
fractures were truncated at both bounding marl
Central Texas and is stratigraphically at the top of
layers. Otherwise, mechanical thickness could be
the Upper Austin Chalk, just below the overlying
many 10s of meters.
Ozan Formation. The outcrop comprises two chalk
horizons separated by a marl layer. The outcrop is
Table 1. Scanline and power-law parameters for all compared data sets.

Well/outcrop Aperture size Strain

Formation Lithology name Power Law Scanline parameters (mm) %
no. length
coefficient exponent fractures (mm) max min
Carbonates
Austin Chalk
[5] chalk Grove Creek 0.1052 -0.558 136 246160 100.0 0.05 0.15
Cupido dolostone Las Palmas 11 11.99 -1.055 575 2487.14 17.50 0.075 7.62
Cupido dolostone Las Palmas 9 32.1 -0.978 221 3533.29 15.87 0.05 12.31
Cupido dolostone La Escalera 3 20.11 -0.886 150 2444.92 55.00 0.50 12.80
Cupido dolostone La Escalera 6 31.63 -1.078 206 5381.85 104.0 0.50 13.16
Pedernales
Marble Falls limestone Falls 0.86 -1.19 830 55489.6 18.00 0.0049 0.47
Clear Fork Apache
[13] dolostone Canyon 2.47 -0.891 98 5484.3 10.00 0.08 0.55
Knox dolostone Well X 0.43 -1.36 31 5.955 0.013 0.0003 1.25
Ellenburger dolostone Barnhart field 30 -0.777 60 14.099 0.179 0.0005 6.14

Siliciclastics
Deerlodge _
Weber [17] sandstone North 0.45 -0.68 - - ~1000 ~0.1
Blakeney
Ozona [1] sandstone Kruger 19.3 -0.769 235 18.609 0.360 0.0002 4.77
Homer L.
Pottsville[19] sandstone Jenkins 62.38 -0.446 27 22.5 0.153 0.0004 2.53
San Juan
Dakota sandstone basin 7259 ft 0.199 -1.310 124 49.59 0.011 0.0002 0.46
San Juan
Dakota sandstone basin 7181 ft 0.309 -1.217 86 47.01 0.381 0.0003 1.18
Piceance
Cozzette sandstone basin, SHCT 7.67 -0.813 56 16.45 0.627 0.0003 5.13
2.2. Cupido Formation, NE Mexico
Cupido Formation shallow water platform
carbonates [8] are exposed in a series of Laramide-
age, isoclinal folds with wavelengths on the order of
kilometers in the Sierra Madre Oriental to the south
and west of Monterrey, NE Mexico [9]. Data were
collected from an exposed section of Cupido
Formation in the forelimb of the San Blas anticline
in Cañón Boquilla Corral de Palmas and in Cañón
La Escalera. Fractures are preferentially developed
in dolomitized units that occur near the top of
depositional cycles [10]. These fractures also occur
in displaced blocks in early, pre-folding, solution-
collapse breccias, and are cut by bedding-parallel,
compaction-related stylolites and therefore pre-date
the Laramide folding event [10]. The fractures
developed very early during the diagenetic
sequence, when adjacent limestones were not fully
lithified [10]. Mechanical layer thickness for them
was consistently small (less than 1 m in all cases).
Fracture sets in the different beds are broadly
synchronous. They consist of three
contemporaneous subsets which have been analyzed
together: dominant opening-mode fractures normal
to bedding that bisect hybrid extension–shear
fractures.
Scanlines normal to the dominant fracture set were
constructed along single mechanical units. Palmas
11 comprises two adjacent beds, which when
treated together range from 21 to 30 cm thick.
Palmas 9 and the data from Cañón La Escalera are
from individual beds. Fractures are lined and
bridged with synkinematic dolomite cement, and
remaining porosity has been mostly filled by
postkinematic calcite [11]. A very small amount of
porosity is preserved in a few of the largest
fractures.
2.3. Marble Falls Limestone, Pedernales Falls
State Park, central Texas
Pennsylvanian Marble Falls Limestone is exposed
in the Pedernales river-bed in Pedernales Falls State
Park, central Texas. The Marble Falls Limestone is
a shallow marine wackestone-packstone with
abundant crinoids, which dips approximately 14º to
the southeast. Some beds contain chert nodules and
chertified burrows [12]. East-trending filled
fractures cut through multiple beds and have en
echelon arrangements both along strike and down
dip, with both left- and right- stepping patterns. The
fractures contain an early light-colored
microcrystalline calcite fill, which seals narrow
fractures (<1 mm) and lines and bridges wider
fractures. A later dark-colored sparry calcite fills the
remaining pore space in the wide fractures. The
mechanical thickness of layers containing the
fractures is not known, but exceeds the height of the
obvious beds exposed at the falls, which are
approximately 1 to 3 meters thick. and are bounded
by stylolites that cut the filled fractures. The age of
the fractures is uncertain; they may have formed
during the late Paleozoic Ouachita-Marathon-
Appalachian orogeny.
2.4. Clear Fork Group dolostones, Apache
Canyon, Texas
Leonardian Clear Fork Group dolostones are well
exposed in the area of Apache Canyon in the Sierra
Diablo in Hudspeth and Culberson Counties, Texas.
The Sierra Diablo is situated on the western edge of
the Delaware Basin along a major structural high.
Fractures are steeply inclined in flat-lying beds and
most fractures have height and length dimensions of
centimeters. Both open and sealed fractures are
present. Cements in fractures include dolomite and
calcite. At least some of the calcite in appears to be
a near-surface, late pedogenic deposit and thus
unrelated to fracture attributes to be expected in the
subsurface [13,14].
2.5. Knox Group dolostones, Mississippi
Core samples of Lower Ordovician Knox
dolostones from approximately 14,500 ft were
examined using SEM-based cathodoluminescence.
The host rocks are dolomitized carbonate
mudstones from a shallow water platform
depositional environment. Local dessication and
collapse structures are present. Two fracture sets
were identified with synkinematic dolomite and
later calcite filling each set. Data presented here are
from the later fracture set, which trends ENE. Some
fractures stop at bed boundaries in the core, while
others terminate within beds or cross bed
boundaries, giving a wide range of fracture heights.
2.6. Ellenburger Group dolostones, West Texas
Microfracture data were collected from a core
sample at 9079 ft from the Unit No. 3 well in
Barnhart field, an Ellenburger hydrocarbon
reservoir located in southeast Reagan County, West
Texas. The Ellenburger Group in the Barnhart area
comprises shallow-water, lower Ordovician
carbonates containing both dolostone and limestone
[15]. In the Unit No. 3 well these are brecciated
throughout. The breccias have been interpreted as
being due to palaeocave collapse [16]. The fractures
in this study post-date the brecciation and an early
dolomitization event and are sealed with dolomite
[4]. Crack-seal texture in the dolomite is common.
There is no clear mechanical stratigraphy because
brecciation has thoroughly disrupted the sequence.
2.7. Weber Sandstone, Deerlodge North,
Colorado
The Deerlodge North outcrop in NW Colorado was
studied by Ortega [17] as an analog for Rangely
Field. However, it was found that the structural and
diagenetic history and mechanical stratigraphy of
the outcrops was so different from that of the Weber
Fm in Rangely Field at approximately 1760 m
(5775 ft) that it did not make a good analog for
fractures [17]; Ortega’s outcrop data set is included
here. In outcrop the mechanical layer thickness is
very large at 250 m. This has allowed very tall,
wide fractures to develop, the widest fracture being
2 m. This is in contrast with the Weber in the
subsurface, where mechanical layer thickness is
probably only 50 m and the maximum fracture
width was just 15 cm. In outcrop the synkinematic
cement is quartz and the postkinematic cement is
calcite. In the subsurface the synkinematic cement
is again quartz but the postkinematic cement is
ankerite [17].
2.8. Ozona Sandstone, West Texas
The Ozona Blakeney Kruger No 1 (OBK-1) well in
Crockett County, West Texas provided core through
slope- and basin-floor submarine-fan Ozona
Canyon sandstones [17, 18]. This core is unusual in
that it a vertical core has been drilled through
steeply dipping beds, providing a bed-parallel core.
The nature of the hydrocarbon trap is not well
understood, but a large fault intercepted by the well
suggests that the trap might be partly structural.
Ortega [17] collected aperture size data from thin
sections and then compared them with
macrofracture measurements in the core to test
whether microfracture population measurements
could be used to predict macro-fracture populations,
which was shown to be the case [1]. The power law
presented here is for the thin-section data.
2.9. Pottsville Sandstone, Black Warrior Basin,
Alabama.
Pottsville Sandstone from the Homer L. Jenkins 21-
16 No. 1 well, Sneads Creek field, Pickens County,
Alabama were sampled with 20 drilled sidewall
cores. The well is in the southern Black Warrior
Basin, a north-trending basin that lies between the
Appalachian and Ouachita orogenic belts. The
Lower Pennsylvanian Pottsville Sandstone was
deposited during uplift of the Appalachian-Ouachita
Mountains. Pottsville sandstones vary from dark,
low porosity (< 7%) litharenite to light quartzose
sandstone with higher porosity (~7 to 8 %) [19].
Fracture aperture data were collected from SEM-
based CL and SEI images [19].
2.10. Dakota Sandstone, San Juan Basin, New
Mexico
Two samples from a Dakota Sandstone core from
the San Juan basin in NE New Mexico were imaged
using SEM-based CL. Microfracture aperture data
were collected from scanlines in each thin section.
Both samples, from depths of 7181 ft and 7259 ft,
contain natural fractures, but the fracture cements
are different. Fractures in the sample from 7181 ft
are moderately occluded by late carbonate and
anhydrite cements that postdate the fracture event,
whereas large fractures in the sample from 7259 ft
are mostly open. Microfractures in both samples are
sealed by synkinematic quartz.
2.11. Cozzette Sandstone, Piceance Basin,
Colorado
These data were obtained from core of the Upper
Cretaceous Cozzette Sandstone Member of the Iles
Formation (Mesaverde Group) from the Piceance
Basin of northwestern Colorado. The Cozzette
Sandstone has been interpreted to be a marginal
marine sandstone, possibly shoreface or offshore-
bar facies grading upward into barrier or strandplain
facies [20, 21 and references therein].
Cozzette sandstones are typically sublitharenites
and consist primarily of quartz, with minor amounts
of chert and rock fragments [22]. Where mica and
detrital dolomite content are high, the sandstones
are classified as litharenites. Texture is very fine to
medium sandstone having detrital silt and clay, and
it is typically poorly sorted.
The core sample is from 9034.7 ft measured depth
from the Slant-Hole Completion Test (SHCT-1)
well, which was drilled as part of a DOE project to
evaluate tight gas sandstones in the Piceance Basin.
The surface location of the SHCT-1 well is 700 ft
south of the DOE Multiwell Experiment (MWX)
site in section 34, T6S, R94W, in Garfield County,
Colorado [23, 24]. These data were part of a larger
study looking at fracture intensity in the Cozzette
sandstone [25].
3. METHODOLOGY
Single fracture sets were identified on the basis of
relative timing, orientation and fracture fill.
Aperture-size distribution data were collected by
constructing a scanline normal to the fracture set,
typically along a bedding plane, but in some cases
along a plane normal to bedding. Fracture apertures
were measured in the field, at the point where the
scanline crossed each fracture. Fracture apertures
less than 5 mm were measured using a comparator,
where pre-drawn lines of given thickness were
compared with the fracture width, thus binning the
aperture sizes recorded [17]. The kinematic fracture
aperture is the wall-to-wall distance across the
fracture and includes both filled and open portions
of the fracture. It is a measure of the amount of
opening of the fracture, and therefore reflects strain
due to fracturing. All apertures recorded here are
kinematic apertures. For each data set as many
fractures as possible were measured in a continuous
scanline. Numbers of fractures in field data sets are
limited by the continuity of the outcrop and in
microfracture data sets by the size of the thin
section.
Microstructures were mostly imaged on polished
thin sections cut parallel to bedding using scanning
electron microscope (SEM)-based cathodolumines-
cence (scanned CL). The detectors and processing
used for these images record CL emissions in the
range of ultraviolet through visible into near
infrared and convert them to gray-scale intensity
values. All images were acquired using an Oxford
Instruments MonoCL2 system attached to a Philips
XL30 SEM operating at 15 kV. Scanned CL
photographs were taken in traverses several
millimeters in length, and stitched electronically
into mosaics. Typically, a mosaic of 30 to 40
individual images at a scale of 1:150 is required to
record a continuous CL image along the short side
of a 1-by-2-inch thin section. To increase the
likelihood of intersecting microfractures genetically
related and parallel to macrofractures, mosaics were
oriented perpendicular to known macrofracture
strike [1]. Microstructures in the Ellenburger
dolostone sample were imaged using light-
microscope based CL.
On each CL mosaic, fractures were identified and
classified according to their shapes and crosscutting
relations with respect to pore-filling, grain
overgrowth, and fracture-filling cements. We
further classified all microfractures into those that
extend beyond individual grain boundaries
(transgranular) and those that are confined within
individual grains (intragranular). Orientation and
size were mapped electronically using
commercially available software by defining four
points: the two fracture tips and two opposite points
on the fracture walls at the widest aperture. Fracture
attributes were measured and compiled using in-
house software that uses the digitized parts of the
four points to calculate length, aperture, and
orientation [17]. The area of the CL mosaic is also
calculated using image-processing software.
In any quantitative study where a subset of a
population is collected and compared with another
data set, questions arise over whether the data are
representative of the population as a whole, and
over the quality of fracture observation and
measurement. In addition, departure from power-
law distributions for reasons of truncation and
censoring, sampling topology and rock
heterogeneity are recognized. A full discussion of
this subject is outside the scope of this paper, and
has been previously addressed by other workers [2,
17, 26-28]. In this study every effort was made to
collect high quality data, by ensuring all fractures of
the given size range were recorded. In the field this
was done by selecting outcrops of continuous clean
exposure and by selecting a lower aperture-size
cutoff for data collection. In most cases the lower
cutoff was 0.05 mm but for some data sets where
fracture intensity was very high a wider cutoff of
0.5 or 0.95 mm was selected so that a longer
traverse could be collected in the time available.
3.1. Scaling Methods
Aperture data are presented as cumulative
frequency plots of fracture apertures, normalized to
scanline length. Extrapolation of power-laws from
one scale length to another has been previously
verified for several of the data sets included here [1,
4, 17, 25]. In these cases data were collected at two
or three scales and compared. Power-law curves
coincide when extrapolated, demonstrating that
truncation and censoring departures from the
power-law distribution are scale specific.
Truncation bias at the small-scale end of the plot is
produced by limits in either imaging or recognizing
and recording progressively narrower fractures.
Cupido dolostone, Las Palmas 11
Censoring bias of large fractures occurs because
these fractures are inadequately sampled along the 1000
length of the scanline chosen. Where a scanline is -1.055
extremely short, but passes through a cluster of F = 11.99 b

cumulative frequency, F
2
fractures over- sampling of large fractures occurs. 100 R = 0.997
This bias was avoided by making sure that, for

(fractures/m)
obviously clustered fracture sets, scanlines were 10 data
long enough to pass through more than one fracture es tim ate 1
es tim ate 2
cluster. In addition, only data sets with an aperture- es tim ate 3
es tim ate 4
1
size range greater than an order of magnitude were es tim ate 5
es tim ate 6
included in the study. This limit was set to eliminate power law

data sets where the censoring effect occurs over a 0.1

relatively large range of aperture sizes. 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
kinematic aperture, b (mm)

A regression model was used to obtain the power-

law distributions (straight segment on a log-log
graph) for sampled microfractures. The model fits Cupido dolostone, Las Palmas 9
all data by recursive calculations (R. Marrett,
written communication, 2000) so that artifacts and 100
an underlying power-law equation are honored. F = 32.1 b -0.978
cumulative frequency, F

data R2 = 0.993

4. RESULTS 10 estim ate 1

(fractures/m)

estim ate 2
For each fracture set a cumulative frequency plot is estim ate 3
presented showing the data points measured, the estim ate 4
1
recursive calculations and the underlying power-law estim ate 5
fit to the straight-line segment of the distribution estim ate 6
(Fig. 1). The power-law equation and correlation power law
coefficient for the regression model are given. The 0.1
power-law coefficients range over two orders of 0.001 0.1 10 1000
magnitude, from 0.1 (Austin Chalk) to 62.4 kinematic aperture, b (mm)
(Pottsville Sandstone), and the exponents range
from –0.45 (Pottsville Sandstone) to -1.36 (Cupido
dolostone).
Cupido dolostone, La Escalera 3

Grove Creek, Austin Chalk 100

F = 20.11 b -0.886
1 R 2 = 0.970
cumulative frequency, F
cumulative frequency, F (fracs/m)

-0.557
F = 0.1052b
10
(fractures/m)

2
R = 0.979
0.1
data
estim ate 1
estim ate 2
0.01 1 estim ate 3
estim ate 4
estim ate 5
estim ate 6
0.001 power law
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
0.1
kinematic aperture, b (mm)
0.1 1 10 100
kinematic aperture, b (mm)
 Ellenburger - Barnhart UL-U3-9079.6H
Cupido dolostone, La Escalera 6 10

F = 3.E-02 b -0.777

C u m u lative freq u en cy, F (fracs/m m )

100
F = 31.63 b -1.078 R 2 = 0.9856
cumulative frequency, F

R 2 = 0.987 1
10 data
(fractures/m)

estimate 1
estimate 2
1 data estimate 3
es tim ate 1
es tim ate 2 0.1 estimate 4
es tim ate 3 estimate 5
0.1 es tim ate 4
es tim ate 5 estimate 6
es tim ate 6 power law
power law
0.01 0.01
0.1 1 10 100 1000 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1

kinematic aperture, b (mm) Kinematic aperture, b (mm)

Knox dolostone, Mississippi

100
cumulative frequency, F (fracs/mm)

-1.361
F = 0.43b
10 2
R = 0.965

1
data
es tim ate 1
es tim ate 2
es tim ate 3
0.1
es tim ate 4
es tim ate 5
es tim ate 6
power law
0.01
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1

kinematic aperture, b (mm)

Pottsville Homer L. Jenkins 4240 ft

10
Marble Falls limestone, Pedernales Falls
cumulative frequency, F (fracs/mm)

SP -0.446
1000 F = 0.062 b
microfractures 2
R = 0.67
macrofractures 1
100
cumulative frequency, F

power-law
regression data
10 es tim ate 1
(fracs/m)

es tim ate 2
0.1 es tim ate 3
es tim ate 4
es tim ate 5
1 -1.1952
F = 0.8624 b es tim ate 6
2 power law
R = 0.9655
0.01
0.1
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1
kinematic aperture, b (mm)
0.01
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
kinematic aperture, b (mm)
 Dakota Sst 7259 ft

10000
-1.31
F = 0.199 b
cumulative frequency, F (fracs/m)

R 2 = 0.966
1000

100 data
es tim ate 1
es tim ate 2
es tim ate 3
10 es tim ate 4
es tim ate 5
es tim ate 6
power law
1
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1
kine matic ape rture , b (mm)

Dakota sst. 7181 ft

10000
Fig. 1 Aperture-size cumulative frequency distributions for
F = 0.309 b -1.217
data sets listed in Table 1. Power laws and correlation
cumulative frequency, F (fracs/m)

1000 R 2 = 0.865 coefficients for the best fit function are shown. Ozona
sandstone plot from [1], Weber sandstone plot from [17].

data
100
es tim ate 1
es tim ate 2 Power-law and scanline parameters are compiled in
es tim ate 3
es tim ate 4
Table 1 and the power-law curves are extrapolated
10
es tim ate 5 over the range of kinematic apertures in a
es tim ate 6
power law
compilation plot (Fig. 2). On the compilation plot a
1 broad wedge-shaped envelope defines the natural
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 range of frequencies of fractures for aperture sizes
kinematic aperture, b (mm)
from 100 to 0.01 mm. There is an inverse
correlation between the coefficient and exponent for
Cozzette SHCT 9034.7 ft most of the data sets (Fig. 3). Power laws having
steep slopes tend to have low intensities, whereas
10
power laws having shallow slopes tend to have
higher intensities. The Dakota, Knox and Clear
cumulative frequency (fracs/mm)

F = 8E-03 b -0.813
Fork data sets have large negative exponents and
R 2 = 0.8946
low coefficients, which imply relatively low overall
1
intensity but a very high number of microfractures
and few large fractures. At the other end of the
data spectrum the Pottsville Sandstone, has a small
0.1
es tim ate 1
es tim ate 2
negative exponent and a high coefficient, implying
es tim ate 3 high overall intensity but a relatively larger
es tim ate 4
es tim ate 5 proportion of large fractures. There are two groups
es tim ate 6
power law
of data that depart from this trend, the Austin Chalk
0.01 and Weber Sandstone, and the Cupido dolostone.
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 The Austin Chalk and Weber Sandstone have low
Kinematic Aperture (mm) overall intensities but a low slope.
 A simple interpretation of variation in power-law
1.00E+05 coefficients might be that they reflect a variation in
strain: the larger the strain, the more fractures
1.00E+04 present (Fig. 4). The data presented here show a
2
weak trend in support of this interpretation, with on
1.00E+03
8
6
outlying point, the Pottsville Sandstone.
4
cumulative frequency, F (fracs/m)

1.00E+02
70
10 Cupido dolostones
9
11
Austin Chalk
1.00E+01 60
7 All other data
12

50
1 5

power law coefficient

1.00E+00
40
1-Austin Chalk outcrop
1.00E-01 2-Cupido Fm. dolomite
30
3-Marble Falls Lst
4-Clear Fork dol 1

1.00E-02
5-Knox dolomite 20
6-Ellenburger 9079.6 3
7-Weber Deerlodge outcrop
8-Ozona Sst. Core, W. Texas 10
9-Dakota 7529
1.00E-03
10-Dakota 7181
11-Pottsville 4240 0
12-Cozzette 9034.7 0.1 1 10 100
1.00E-04 strain %
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
kinematic aperture, b (mm) Fig. 4. Plot of aperture-size distribution power-law coefficient
against strain.
Fig. 2. Composite plot of power law aperture-size
distributions. Disregarding the Austin Chalk, Weber and 5. DISCUSSION
Cupido curves, the other curves define a broad wedge-shaped
envelope, opening to the right (gray shaded area). Opening-mode fractures in the subsurface grow by
subcritical growth [29, 30]. Olson [31, 32] has
Measurements from the Cupido dolostone, from shown that the local stress field and subcritical
two different, but stratigraphically and structurally crack index of the rock govern which fractures
equivalent areas, show some variation, but they propagate, how fast they propagate, and what effect
form a cluster beneath the curve in Figure 3, they have on neighboring fractures. The subcritical
departing from the general trend, but forming a index has a profound effect on the number of
consistent pattern for this fracture group. The steep fractures in a population, independent of strain.
slope and high coefficient indicate high overall Consequently the size distribution of fractures will
intensity but a small proportion of large fractures. reflect both the amount of deformation and the
subcritical crack index. Moreover, the subcritical
0
index affects the relative numbers of narrow and
-0.2
Cupido dolostones
All other data y = 0.1376Ln(x) - 1.1223
wide fractures and thereby the exponent.
W eber sst. R2 = 0.9152
-0.4 Austin Chalk
Fractures may open in a single event or may
power law exponent

-0.6
repeatedly open and seal [33]. During an opening
-0.8
event the rate of opening competes with the fastest
-1 rates of precipitation to determine if the fracture
-1.2 will seal before the next strain increment. Small
-1.4 fractures completely seal with cement precipitated
-1.6 synchronously with opening, whereas large
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
fractures may retain some porosity. The aperture
pow er law coefficient
size at which porosity is preserved varies, and it is
Fig. 3. Variation of power-law coefficient and exponent. Line controlled by the temperature of the fracture fluid,
is fit to data sets (squares) other than the Cupido (diamonds), the composition and texture of the host rock and
Austin Chalk (triangle) and Weber (cross). The equation and
correlation coefficient for the best fit are shown.
precipitating mineral, and the length of time the
fracture wall is exposed to mineral precipitation,
which is dependent on burial history and fracture
timing. If the widest fractures are not completely
sealed before the next strain increment, they may
act as planes of weakness, causing strain to
progressively partition into fewer fractures, which
will grow wider. The extent to which this process
happens should partly govern the exponent in the
power-law distribution, with higher strain being
linked to shallower slopes (Fig. 5).
0
Cupido dolostones
Austin Chalk
-0.2
All other data
-0.4
power law exponent
-0.6
-0.8
-1
-1.2
-1.4
-1.6
0.1
Fig. 5. Plot of aperture-size distribution power-law exponent
against strain.
This clearly does not apply for the Austin Chalk
relative to other rock types, although differences in
other mechanical rock properties probably make
direct comparison between different rock types
meaningless. Within a single rock type, three of the
four Cupido dolostone data sets follow a trend
where higher strain is linked to smaller exponents,
but the dolostone at La Escalera 6 departs from this
trend. Power-law distributions, however, are
continuous across the size-range from narrow,
sealed microfractures to large fractures with
porosity. This suggests that although strain might
focus on larger fractures as total strain increases,
smaller fractures continue to nucleate and grow.
Variations in fault displacement distributions with
strain have previously been reported [34] and a
decrease in exponent with increasing strain has been
interpreted as the result of progressive partitioning
onto fewer but larger faults [35] and by fault
linkage [34].
Although no quantitative data are available, the rate
at which fractures widen, relative to the rate of
cement precipitation could influence which
fractures continue to grow. Crack-seal texture is
evidence of repeated opening and is common in
bridges of large fractures but is absent in very
narrow microfractures [33]. This observation
indicates that narrow microfractures are formed
during a single opening event, whereas larger
fractures grow by multiple discrete increments. It is
not clear whether these approximate to a constant
strain rate or whether strain rate is variable. Rapid
fracture opening could allow even very small
fractures to remain open because cementation
cannot keep up with opening, thereby allowing
these fractures to continue growth. Conversely, a
slow strain rate may allow many small fractures to
become sealed and stop opening.
Mechanical layer thickness will also affect the
aperture-size distribution for a given fracture set
because it controls the intensity of the larger
fractures that cross the mechanical layer for a given
strain [31]. Determination of mechanical layer
thickness is challenging because, in addition to
observational difficulties in outcrop and core, the
1 10 100
mechanical properties of the rock package at the
strain %
time of fracturing are required, which in turn will
depend on the relative amount and type of
cementation in different layers at that time. In this
study, unequivocal mechanical layer thickness was
indeterminate for many of the data sets.
In the Austin Chalk the relatively large fractures
occur in clusters, with cluster spacing on the order
of 50 m and lengths along the scanline completely
devoid of any fractures [5]. Like the Austin Chalk,
fractures in the Cupido dolostone are also clustered,
with cluster spacing on the order of 1.5 m. Unlike
the Austin Chalk, the lengths of scanline between
the clusters are filled with narrow fractures. The
timing of fracturing in the Austin Chalk is not
known, although it appears to predate some normal
fault displacement [6].
Subcritical crack indices for several rock types have
been measured and are very large for the Cupido
dolostone and Austin Chalk, (100 +) and are more
moderate (~40 to 60) for the Dakota Sandstone
[32]. These observations are in keeping with the
highly clustered nature of the former. However,
these measurements were made on samples in their
current diagenetic state, and may not reflect the
state of the rock at the time of fracturing.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Apertures of mode-I fracture sets follow power-law
distributions for aperture sizes ranging from
approximately 1 μm to 0.1 m and can be considered
self-organized. Fracture sets described here with
power-law aperture-size distributions come from
very different geologic settings, suggesting that
self-organization of opening-mode fractures is the
norm. A power law forms a straight line on a log
cumulative frequency (fractures/meter) versus log
aperture size (millimeter) plot. The slope of the line
is the power-law exponent, reflecting the relative
number of narrow and wide fractures in the set. The
pre-exponential coefficient reflects the overall
fracture intensity.
Coefficients range from 0.1 to 62.4, and exponents
range from -0.45 to -1.36. There is a negative
correlation between log coefficient and exponent for
most of the data sets. On a compilation plot of
power laws, a broad wedge-shaped envelope
defines the natural range of frequencies of fractures
for given aperture sizes. Power laws having steep
slopes tend to have low intensities, whereas power
laws having shallow slopes tend to have higher
intensities. There are, however, a few exceptions to
this correlation, in particular the Cupido dolostones,
Weber Sandstone and the Austin Chalk. Cupido
dolostones have high intensities and steep slopes,
and Weber Sandstone and Austin Chalk have lower
intensity and a shallow slope.
There is a weak correlation between strain and
power-law coefficients. Other influences on the
power-law distributions will be mechanical rock
properties, most notably subcritical crack index,
strain rate and mechanical layer thickness. These
parameters are difficult to determine for the rock at
the time of fracturing, and their roles could not be
assessed quantitatively here.
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