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Evolution of the Percolation Threshold in Muds and Mudrocks During Burial
Author(s) -
Daigle Hugh,
Reece Julia S.,
Flemings Peter B.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl083723
Subject(s) - porosity , percolation threshold , diagenesis , geology , percolation (cognitive psychology) , saturation (graph theory) , methane , sedimentary depositional environment , permeability (electromagnetism) , petrology , mineralogy , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , chemistry , biochemistry , electrical engineering , mathematics , organic chemistry , combinatorics , structural basin , neuroscience , membrane , engineering , biology , electrical resistivity and conductivity
Muds and mudrocks are important barriers to flow and perform this role over their entire depositional history, from mediating sediment‐ocean methane exchange to preventing leakage from hydrocarbon reservoirs, CO 2 sequestration targets, or nuclear waste repositories. It is well established that the percolation threshold, which is the fluid saturation at which percolation occurs, is directly related to the pressure sealing capacity of a mud or mudrock. However, the evolution of the percolation threshold during burial and diagenesis is not well understood. Using a data set of natural muds and mudrocks and resedimented laboratory mixtures, we show that the percolation threshold is strongly controlled by porosity, achieving a minimum of 0.10–0.30 at a porosity of 0.40, and increasing as porosity increases or decreases from that value, to as high as 0.60 at deposition and >0.80 at porosity <0.10. This implies a highly disconnected pore network at high and low porosities.