--> ABSTRACT: Quantitative Analysis of Sandstone Porosity, by Ray E. Ferrell, Jr. and Paul K. Carpenter; #91030 (2010)
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Quantitative Analysis of Sandstone Porosity

Ray E. Ferrell, Jr., Paul K. Carpenter

A quantitative analysis of changes in porosity associated with sandstone diagenesis was accomplished with digital back-scattered electron image analysis techniques. The volume percent (vol. %) of macroporosity, microporosity, quartz, clay minerals, feldspar, and other constituents combined with stereological parameters, such as the size and shape of the analyzed features, permitted the determination of cement volumes, the ratio of primary to secondary porosity, and the relative abundance of detrital and authigenic clay minerals. The analyses were produced with a JEOL 733 Superprobe and a TRACOR/NORTHERN 5700 Image Analyzer Previous HitSystemNext Hit. The results provided a numerical evaluation of sedimentological facies controls and diagenetic effects on the permeabilities of potential reser oirs.

In a typical application, subtle differences in the diagenetic development of porosity were detected in Wilcox sandstones from central Louisiana. Mechanical compaction of these shoreface sandstones has reduced the porosity to approximately 20%. In most samples with permeabilities greater than 10 md, the measured ratio of macroporosity to microporosity associated with Previous HitporeNext Hit-filling kaolinite was 3:1. In other sandstones with lower permeabilities, the measured ratio was higher, but the volume of Previous HitporeNext Hit-filling clay was essentially the same. An analysis of the frequency distribution of Previous HitporeNext Hit diameters and Previous HitshapesTop revealed that the latter samples contained 2-3 vol. % of grain-dissolution or moldic porosity. Fluid entry to these large pores was restricted and the clays produced from the grain d ssolution products reduced the observed permeability. The image analysis technique provided valuable data for the distinction of productive and nonproductive intervals in this reservoir.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91030©1988 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, 20-23 March 1988.