GeoFault: A well-founded fault ontology for interoperability in geological modeling

Geological modeling currently uses various computer-based applications. Data harmonization at the semantic level by means of ontologies is essential for making these applications interoperable. Since geo-modeling is currently part of multidisciplinary projects, semantic harmonization is required to model not only geological knowledge but also to integrate other domain knowledge at a general level. For this reason, the domain ontologies used for describing geological knowledge must be based on a sound ontology background to ensure the described geological knowledge is integratable. This paper presents a domain ontology: GeoFault, resting on the Basic Formal Ontology BFO (Arp et al., 2015) and the GeoCore ontology (Garcia et al., 2020). It models the knowledge related to geological faults. Faults are essential to various industries but are complex to model. They can be described as thin deformed rock volumes or as spatial arrangements resulting from the different displacements of geological blocks. At a broader scale, faults are currently described as mere surfaces, which are the components of complex fault arrays. The reference to the BFO and GeoCore package allows assigning these various fault elements to define ontology classes and their logical linkage within a consistent ontology framework. The GeoFault ontology covers the core knowledge of faults 'strico sensu,' excluding ductile shear deformations. This considered vocabulary is essentially descriptive and related to regional to outcrop scales, excluding microscopic, orogenic, and tectonic plate structures. The ontology is molded in OWL 2, validated by competency questions with two use cases, and tested using an in-house ontology-driven data entry application. The work of GeoFault provides a solid framework for disambiguating fault knowledge and a foundation of fault data integration for the applications and the users

AZ ÉLELMISZERGAZDASÁG KÜLKERESKEDELME 2016. év I–X. hónap

A mezőgazdasági és élelmiszeripari termékek kivitele 6607 millió eurót, behozatala 4216 millió eurót tett ki 2016 első tíz hónapjában. Az agrár-külkereskedelmi forgalom 2391 millió euró aktívumot eredményezett. A kivitel értéke 1,4 százalékkal, a behozatalé 4,8 százalékkal emelkedett, az aktívum 4,1 százalékkal, 103 millió euróval elmaradt a 2015. január–októberi értéktől. A mezőgazdasági és élelmiszeripari termékek részesedése a teljes nemzetgazdasági exportból 2016 októberében 8,9 százalék, 2016 január–októberi időszakában 8,5 százalék, az importból 2016 októberében 6,3 százalék, 2016 január–októberi időszakában 6,1 százalék volt. Az agrárexport aránya 2016 január–októberi időszakában 0,1 százalékponttal alacsonyabb, míg az import aránya 0,2 százalékponttal magasabb volt, mint 2015 első tíz hónapjában

Deformation bands in porous sandstones, their microstructure and petrophysical properties

Deformation bands are commonly thin tabular zones of crushed or reorganized grains that form in highly porous rocks and sediments. Unlike a fault, typically the slip is negligible in deformation bands. In this dissertation the microstructure and petrophysical properties of deformation bands have been investigated through microscopy and numerical analysis of experimental and natural examples. The experimental work consists of a series of ring-shear experiments performed on porous sand at 5 and 20 MPa normal stresses and followed by microscopic examination of thin sections from the sheared samples. The results of the ring-shear experiments and comparison of them to natural deformation bands reveals that burial depth (level of normal stress in the experiments) and the amount of shear displacement during deformation are the two significant factors influencing the mode in which grains break and the type of shear zone that forms. Two end-member types of experimental shear zones were identified: (a) Shear zones with diffuse boundaries, which formed at low levels of normal stress and/or shear displacement; and (b) Shear zones with sharp boundaries, which formed at higher levels of normal stress and/or shear displacement. Our interpretation is that with increasing burial depth (approximately more than one kilometer, simulated in the experiments by higher levels of normal stress), the predominant mode of grain fracturing changes from flaking to splitting; which facilitates the formation of sharp-boundary shear zones. This change to grain splitting increases the power law dimension of the grain size distribution (D is about 1.5 in sharp boundary shear zones). Based on our observations, initial grain size has no influence in the deformation behavior of the sand at 5 MPa normal stresses. A new type of cataclastic deformation band is described through outcrop and microscopic studies; here termed a "slipped deformation band". Whereas previouslyreported cataclastic deformation bands are characterized by strain hardening, these new bands feature a central slip surface, which indicates late strain softening. They lack the characteristic compaction envelop, and are typified by higher porosity and lower permeability than previously-described cataclastic deformation bands. Intense background fracturing of the host rock and significant initial porosity are considered to be important in creating these newly-discovered deformation bands. In a related study, we investigate, for millimeter- wide deformation bands, the scale limitation inherent in laboratory measurements of porosity and permeability. The scale limitations imposed by the deformation band relative to the physical sample size motivated us to develop a new method for determining porosity and permeability based on image processing. While plug measurements measure the effective permeability across a 25.4 mm (1 inch) long sample, which includes both host rock and deformation band, the method presented here provides a means to estimate porosity and permeability of deformation band on microscale. This method utilizes low-order (one- and twoorders) spatial correlation functions to analyze high-resolution, high-magnification backscatter images, to estimate the porosity and specific surface area of the pore-grain interface in the deformed sandstones. Further, this work demonstrates the use of a modified version of the Kozeny-Carmen relation to calculate permeability by using porosity and specific surface area obtained through the image processing. The result shows that permeability difference between the band and the host rock is up to four orders of magnitude. Moreover, the porosities and permeabilities estimated from image processing are lower than those obtained from their plug measurements; hence the traditional laboratory measurements have been overestimating permeability because of the previously-unrecognized scale problem. In addition, the image processing results clearly show that, as a result of microstructural variation, both porosity and permeability vary along the length of individual deformation bands, with permeability variations of up to two orders of magnitude. Such petrophysical variations are found in several types of deformation bands (disaggregation, cataclastic and dissolution bands), but the range depends on the deformation mechanisms, in particular on the degree of (i) cataclasis, (ii) dissolution in cataclastic and dissolution bands, and (iii) on the phyllosilicate content in disaggregation bands. This microscopic anisotropy in the petrophysical properties of deformation bands opens up a new and fruitful area for further research. Our results show that for phyllosilicate bands the band thickness is related to the phyllosilicate content, whereas for cataclastic bands no apparent correlation was found between thickness and intensity of cataclasis

Experimental investigation of deformation mechanisms during shear-enhanced compaction in poorly lithified sandstone and sand

Shear-enhanced compaction in shallow sandstone reservoirs has been investigated in laboratory experiments using high-pressure triaxial testing of poorly lithified sandstone and sand. We have studied the deformation mechanism involved during shear-enhanced compaction and controlling parameters for yield stress at varying confining pressures for sandstone/sand with different grain sizes, porosities, and packing. Experimental testing provides insights into the deformation mechanism during hydrostatic and axial compression of coarse- and fine-grained sands with different packing including (1) natural coarse-grained sandstone, (2) densely packed fine-grained sand, and (3) loosely packed fine-grained sand. Monitoring of deformation and ultrasonic velocity during deformation indicates porosity loss, compaction, and strain hardening for most of the samples. Visualization of deformation using pretest and posttest X-ray imaging and thin sections demonstrates localized deformation fabrics and grain damage. The results show grain rearrangement as the controlling deformation mechanism for material at low stress and high porosity, whereas for lower porosity and higher stress, grain fracturing controlled the deformation. The most pronounced localization of deformation was observed for the coarse-grained, low-porosity material. A Cam-Clay cap model was used to describe the porosity loss during compaction and shear-enhanced compaction, demonstrating large inelastic compaction with increasing confining pressure. Yield stress and end caps for poorly lithified sandstone are observed for various porosities and stress conditions and found to be lower than predicted using empirical relationships for sandstone

The role of mechanical stratigraphy on CO<inf>2</inf> migration along faults – examples from Entrada Sandstone, Humbug Flats, Utah, USA

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The role of mechanical stratigraphy on CO<inf>2</inf> migration along faults – examples from Entrada Sandstone, Humbug Flats, Utah, USA

publishedVersio

Fault core thickness: Insights from siliciclastic and carbonate rocks

Fault core accommodates intense deformation in the form of slip surfaces and fault rocks such as fault gouge, cataclasite, breccia, lenses, shale smear, and diagenetic features. The complexity and variation in fault core geometry and thickness affect fluid flow both along and across the fault. In this study, we have investigated a total of 99 faults in siliciclastic and carbonate rocks. This has resulted in two large datasets that include 871 fault core thickness measurements in siliciclastic rocks and 693 measurements in carbonates, conducted at regular intervals along fault elevations (fault height) on the outcrop or photos of the outcrop. Many of these measurements have been analyzed with respect to fault displacement measurements in order to study the relationship between displacement and fault core thickness and to further uncover the fault growth process. We found that the fault type and geometry, displacement, type of fault rocks, lithology, and competency contrasts between faulted layers lead to significant variations in the fault core internal structure and thickness. Analysis of average values of fault core thickness-displacement data of this study and of previously published studies shows that the core thickness-displacement relationship follows an overall power law, in which its exponent and intercept change depending on the lithology of the faulted rocks. In general, small faults in carbonate and siliciclastic rocks ( m) show comparable ratios, with a slightly higher ratio in carbonate rocks. The outcomes of this study contribute to the understanding of the fault core internal structure and variation in fault core thickness as a result of the interplay between fault displacement and host rock in different lithologies. These outcomes have significant implication for characterizing the sealing and conductivity potential of faulted rocks, which is relevant to different applications such as petroleum exploration and development of existing fields, hydrogeology, geothermal energy storage and extraction, and CO2 sequestration

From outcrop scanlines to discrete fracture networks, an integrative workflow

Understanding fractures and fracture networks is essential for the investigation and use of subsurface reservoirs. The aim is to predict the fractures and the fracture network when there is no direct access to subsurface images available. This article presents a universal workflow to numerically compute a discrete fracture network by combining the 1D scanline survey method, processed with the newly written SkaPy script, together with the multiple point statistic method (MPS). This workflow is applied to a potential geothermal site in Mexico called Acoculco. We use Las Minas outcrops and quarries as surface analogues for the Acoculco reservoir, as Las Minas and Acoculco are both formed by the influence of a plutonic intrusion into the Jurassic–Cretaceous carbonate sequence of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt (TMVB). The intrusion is associated with contact metamorphism and metasomatic phenomena, providing the basis for the mining activities at Las Minas. The results obtained using this workflow demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, which presents a solution combining the efficiency of data processing and an interpretation-driven approach to build realistic discrete fracture networks. This workflow can be used in the process of estimating the permeability of a fracture controlled reservoir, with using only scanline surveys data as input. This is essential in the process of evaluating the feasibility to develop an enhanced geothermal system.publishedVersio