Mechanical properties and modeling of seal-forming lithologies. Final report

The focus on this research has been on the mechanical and transport properties of two sedimentary lithologies, rocksalt and phyllosilicate clay-bearing shale, but commonly serve as structural traps to hydrocarbons. Experimental determinations of physical properties of these rock types have been combined with numerical modeling to examine the development of structural traps and the roles of fluids in natural deformations, applying depositional and tectonic loading conditions and entertaining different histories for the presence of fluids. Laboratory efforts have been directed towards determining realistic constitutive relationships that are accurate over a wide range of strain rates and improving the understanding of the physics and micromechanics of deformation. Modeling efforts have applied these laboratory-based relationships to follow the initiation and evolution of salt structures and overlying stratigraphic units for structures with well-constrained geologic histories, stratigraphic controls on loading and timing, and microstructural information relevant to flow stresses. Many of the research objectives defined by the original proposal have been completed and the authors have addressed new questions that emerged during the course of the investigations