--> Abstract: Determination of the Relative Ages and Spatial Parameters of Subsurface Fracture Sets from Borehole Data, by H. Wu, A. Aydin, and D. D. Pollard; #90942 (1997).

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Abstract: Determination of the Relative Ages and Spatial Parameters of Subsurface Fracture Sets from Borehole Data

WU, HAIQING, ATILLA AYDIN, and DAVID D. POLLARD

One of the challenging problems in the evaluation of subsurface fracture systems is how to use the information from an observation line (the borehole) through the fracture system to determine the temporal and spatial parameters of different fracture sets including spacing, connectivity, and relative ages. We have conducted model experiments and investigated outcrop fracture patterns to understand the relationships among these parameters. Using these relationships, we have developed a technique applicable to 2D and 3D fracture networks in the subsurface. Preliminary results from our experimental and outcrop studies, and from FMS and CBIL log data, show that the relative magnitudes of spacing and spacing deviation in different fracture sets are significantly different. These differences provide a basis for inferring the relative ages of the subsurface fracture sets. The relative ages have important implications for the geometric evolution of the fracture system and the fracture connectivity in the rock volume intersected by the borehole.

We have also investigated partially overlapping fracture domains with heterogeneous fracture spacing and connectivity and have determined their statistical parameters and the corresponding loading configurations. We propose that the technique described here can be utilized in reservoir characterization efforts through a conceptual understanding of how to go from outcrop and model studies to the interpretation of borehole data.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria