POROSITY

Porosity Ipereent) .A 60 8 o ~o 10 40 20 30 30 20 40 10 50 Volumetric ratios. porosity: sohds (1 : Xl 70 80 90

Fiqure
12

11.7

Variation 01 mean porosity

o
60

10

""'"

f\ Kt<,

f\
Il
~.

500

f
L CJ

1000

I\~
I~
-z;.
\

~,;,
~/

\
-f--

,\'0

.00

1\

o.
1500

\\

-6

f\
~
r-,

with depth lor clays and claystones (shalesl. after L. F. Athy (1930) and H. D. Hedberg (1936). Right-hand curve shows volmetric ratio between porositv and solids. Note changes 01 direction 01 CUNes at about 450 m and 1700 m; explanation in text. (Alter C. E. B. Conybeare. Bul!. Can. Petrolm Geol .. 1967.)

U',..

2000

f-.,.t".

f\
2500

where <Po is the average porosity of surface clays, y is the depth of burial (soy = O for <Po), and e is an exponential factor called the compaction coefficient. The value of e is 1.42 X 10-3 m' (4.33 X 10-4 ft-l). When the CUJTVes of porosity decrement with incre'rnent of deptl are examined in detail, however, it beca mes apparent that the decrements take place in three definable stages (Fig.11.7): (1)
hE .ents. 974,/

progressively reduced in thickness as itis buried, untilat 1000 m it has lost 65 percent of its original 48 percent porosity (Fig.1L7). Its new thickness t is now given by . t - 52 = 48 - (65 x 0.48) t 100 . or a little more than 60 m. A thick section of "shales," therefore, represents a considerably greater thickness of original sediment, a matter which must be borne in mind when correlating such a section with sections containing much less "shale." Substituting densities for porosities in Equation 11.4, we reach

(2)

~ater

ys as
anduain J latFig. iand~da)' aving 'Pical ze do

(3)

Down to about 450 m, pore water is expelled at a rapid but exponentially decreasing rate. Between 450 m and about 1700 m, the water expelled is bound water, frorn the mineral Iattices. This expulsion takes place at a uniform rate, and porosity therefore decreases linearly. At about 1700 m of burial, the porosity has been reduced below 15 percent. Individual pore sizes be come smaller than 10-3 11m (= 1 nm), The expandable clay content has been greatly reduced and ..the diagenetic expulsion of the remaining bound water becomes a very slow process. The remaining water saturation is irreducible (se e Sec, 11.2.1).

(11.6r
Even under simple vertical compaction without tectonic complication, the reduction of shale porosity mayhave be en partly caused by rock formerly overlying the shale but since eroded away. If we call the arnount eroded X and the present depth Y, then 100Z

<j>=X+Y+Z
(Z is some constant).
When layered rocks are folded, the shales terid to become attenuated on the flanks of the folds and accumulated in the crests and troughs, Thus their porosities are still further reduced on the flanks, According to Rubey, <Pu

0-30 arger
.arser

Jf t he lf he yueOt
.18lioo

The actual depths at which the porosity reduction curve cbanges slope depend upon the geothermal gradient (see Fig.15.8). The practical effect of the porosity reduction process should not be underestimated by the geologist. We have already noted the relation between porosity and density (Sec: 11.1.1). Taking the averages of many measured values for shale densities at depth (pg) and at the surface (Po); we may write

100 - cos d (100 - <j>p)

(11.7)

nOlic: <Po =
.

Pg - Po
Ps

2.7 - lA 2.7

. =

0.48

(11.5)

where <Pu and <j>p are the original (untilted) and present (tilted) porosities, and d is the angle of dip. The rather cornplex-appearing equation may be more readily grasped if expressed in a different form, thus: Original solid percentage , -: Present solid percentage 1 f'l ang e o ti t

Each 100 m packet of clay sediment deposited therefore has an initial porosity of about 48 percent. The packet is

=cos