Dag Kristian Dysthe

Enhanced pressure solution creep rates induced by clay particles: Experimental evidence in salt aggregates

Pressure solution is responsible for mechano-chemical compaction of sediments in the upper crust (2–10 km). This process also controls porosity variations in a fault gouge after an earthquake. We present experimental results from chemical compaction of aggregates of halite mixed with clays. It is shown that clay particles (1–5 microns) greatly enhance the deformation by pressure solution in salt aggregates (100–200 micron), the strain rates being 50% to 200% faster in samples containing 10% clays than for clay-free samples. Even the presence of 1% clay increases the strain rate significantly. We propose that clay particles enhance pressure solution creep because these microscopic minerals are trapped within the salt particle contacts where they allow faster diffusion of solutes from the particle contacts to the pore space and inhibit grain boundary formation.

The Role of Pressure Solution Creep in the Ductility of the Earth’s Upper Crust

Abstract The aim of this review is to characterize the role of pressure solution creep in the ductility of the Earth’s upper crust and to describe how this creep mechanism competes and interacts with other deformation mechanisms. Pressure solution creep is a major mechanism of ductile deformation of the upper crust, accommodating basin compaction, folding, shear zone development, and fault creep and interseismic healing. However, its kinetics is strongly dependent on the composition of the rocks (mainly the presence of phyllosilicates minerals that activate pressure solution) and on its interaction with fracturing and healing processes (that activate and slow down pressure solution, respectively). The present review combines three approaches: natural observations, theoretical developments, and laboratory experiments. Natural observations can be used to identify the pressure solution markers necessary to evaluate creep law parameters, such as the nature of the material, the temperature and stress conditions, or the geometry of mass transfer domains. Theoretical developments help to investigate the thermodynamics and kinetics of the processes and to build theoretical creep laws. Laboratory experiments are implemented in order to test the models and to measure creep law parameters such as driving forces and kinetic coefficients. Finally, applications are discussed for the modeling of sedimentary basin compaction and fault creep. The sensitivity of the models to time is given particular attention: viscous versus plastic rheology during sediment compaction; steady state versus non-steady state behavior of fault and shear zones. The conclusions discuss recent advances for modeling pressure solution creep and the main questions that remain to be solved.

Fluid transport properties by equilibrium molecular dynamics. III. Evaluation of united atom interaction potential models for pure alkanes

Results of new simulations for n-butane, n-decane, n-hexadecane, and 2-methylbutane at different state points for seven different united atom interaction potential models are presented. The different models are evaluated with respect to the criteria simplicity, transferability, property independence, and state independence. Viscosities are increasingly underestimated (up to 80%) and diffusion coefficients are overestimated (up to 250%) as the density increases and temperature decreases. Clear evidence was found that the torsion potential is more important at high packing fractions and for longer chains. The comparison of transport coefficients is argued to be a measure of “goodness” of the interaction potential models resulting in a ranking of the models.

4D imaging of fracturing in organic‐rich shales during heating

To better understand the mechanisms of fracture pattern development and fluid escape in low permeability rocks, we performed time-resolved in situ X-ray tomography imaging to investigate the processes that occur during the slow heating (from 60 to 400 C) of organic-rich Green River shale. At about 350 C cracks nucleated in the sample, and as the temperature continued to increase, these cracks propagated parallel to shale bedding and coalesced, thus cutting across the sample. Thermogravimetry and gas chromatography revealed that the fracturing occurring at {approx}350 C was associated with significant mass loss and release of light hydrocarbons generated by the decomposition of immature organic matter. Kerogen decomposition is thought to cause an internal pressure build up sufficient to form cracks in the shale, thus providing pathways for the outgoing hydrocarbons. We show that a 2D numerical model based on this idea qualitatively reproduces the experimentally observed dynamics of crack nucleation, growth and coalescence, as well as the irregular outlines of the cracks. Our results provide a new description of fracture pattern formation in low permeability shales.

Coupling between pressure solution creep and diffusive mass transport in porous rocks

Received 29 September 2000; revised 25 January 2002; accepted 30 January 2002; published XX Month 2002. [1] Pressure solution is widely regarded as a mechanism of ductile deformation in the upper crust. It is driven by stress differences and its rate is affected by temperature, grain size, and fluid chemistry. Pressure solution involves dissolution at grain contacts under high stress and precipitation at grain contacts on pore surfaces under low stress, leading to porosity reduction by precipitation in the pore space or by grain indentation. For a system closed at a grain scale, pressure solution is traditionally described by a mechanism involving three steps: (1) dissolution at intergranular interfaces, (2) diffusion of solutes inside the contact between two grains, and (3) precipitation on the surface of the grains in contact with the pore fluid. In this paper we propose a model where we have added a fourth step to this process, diffusive transport to other open pores, to account for the macroscopic diffusion of solutes in pore fluids, such that the deformation is not closed at the grain scale. In this model, differences in mineral solubility due to variations in stress and grain size produce concentration gradients which drive diffusive mass transport. The interaction between pressure solution at a grain scale and transport over distances of several grains can lead to the amplification of initial porosity heterogeneities and subsequent localization of deformation. Regions of intense dissolution compact and form ‘‘bands’’ in close proximity to regions where the porosity reduction is mainly due to cementation. Pressure solution augmented by large-scale diffusional transport will cause mass transport from fine-grained to coarse-grained rock volumes. We show that such processes are important during both diagenesis of sediments and compaction of fault gouge. INDEX TERMS: 3902 Mineral Physics: Creep and deformation; 5114 Physical Properties of Rocks: Permeability and porosity; 8045 Structural Geology: Role of fluids; 8159 Tectonophysics: Evolution of the Earth: Rheology—crust and lithosphere; KEYWORDS: cementation, compaction, diagenesis, gouge, pressure solution, transport Citation: Gundersen, E., F. Renard, D. K. Dysthe, K. Bjorlykke, and B. Jamtveit, Coupling between pressure solution creep and diffusive mass transport in porous rocks, J. Geophys. Res., 107(0), XXXX, doi:10.1029/2001JB000287, 2002.

Role of friction-induced torque in stick-slip motion

We present a minimal quasistatic 1D model describing the kinematics of the transition from static friction to stick-slip motion of a linear elastic block on a rigid plane. We show how the kinematics of both the precursors to frictional sliding and the periodic stick-slip motion are controlled by the amount of friction-induced torque at the interface. Our model provides a general framework to understand and relate a series of recent experimental observations, in particular the nucleation location of micro-slip instabilities and the build-up of an asymmetric field of real contact area.

Fluid transport properties by equilibrium molecular dynamics. I. Methodology at extreme fluid states

The Green-Kubo formalism for evaluating transport coefficients by molecular dynamics has been applied to flexible, multicenter models of linear and branched alkanes in the gas phase and in the liquid phase from ambient conditions to close to the triple point. The effects of integration time step, potential cutoff and system size have been studied and shown to be small compared to the computational precision except for diffusion in gaseous n-butane. The RATTLE algorithm is shown to give accurate transport coefficients for time steps up to a limit of 8 fs. The different relaxation mechanisms in the fluids have been studied and it is shown that the longest relaxation time of the system governs the statistical precision of the results. By measuring the longest relaxation time of a system one can obtain a reliable error estimate from a single trajectory. The accuracy of the Green-Kubo method is shown to be as good as the precision for all states and models used in this study even when the system relaxation tim...

The mechanism of porosity formation during solvent-mediated phase transformations

Solvent-mediated solid–solid phase transformations often result in the formation of a porous medium, which may be stable on long time scales or undergo ripening and consolidation. We have studied replacement processes in the KBr–KCl–H2O system using both in situ and ex situ experiments. The replacement of a KBr crystal by a K(Br,Cl) solid solution in the presence of an aqueous solution is facilitated by the generation of a surprisingly stable, highly anisotropic and connected pore structure that pervades the product phase. This pore structure ensures efficient solute transport from the bulk solution to the reacting KBr and K(Br,Cl) surfaces. The compositional profile of the K(Br,Cl) solid solution exhibits striking discontinuities across disc-like cavities in the product phase. Similar transformation mechanisms are probably important in controlling phase-transformation processes and rates in a variety of natural and man-made systems.

A 4D Synchrotron X-Ray-Tomography Study of the Formation of Hydrocarbon- Migration Pathways in Heated Organic-Rich Shale

Summary Recovery of oil from oil shales and the natural primary migration of hydrocarbons are closely related processes that have received renewed interest in recent years because of the ever tightening supply of conventional hydrocarbons and the growing production of hydrocarbons from low-permeability tight rocks. Quantitative models for conversion of kerogen into oil and gas and the timing of hydrocarbon generation have been well documented. However, lack of consensus about the kinetics of hydrocarbon formation in source rocks, expulsion timing, and how the resulting hydrocarbons escape from or are retained in the source rocks motivates further investigation. In particular, many mechanisms have been proposed for the transport of hydrocarbons from the rocks in which they are generated into adjacent rocks with higher permeabilities and smaller capillary entry pressures, and a better understanding of this complex process (primary migration) is needed. To characterize these processes, it is imperative to use the latest technological advances. In this study, it is shown how insights into hydrocarbon migration in source rocks can be obtained by using sequential high-resolution synchrotron X-ray tomography. Three-dimensional images of several immature “shale” samples were constructed at resolutions close to 5 lm. This is sufficient to resolve the source-rock structure down to the grain level, but very-fine-grained silt particles, clay particles, and colloids cannot be resolved. Samples used in this investigation came from the R-8 unit in the upper part of the Green River shale, which is organic rich, varved, lacustrine marl formed in Eocene Lake Uinta, USA. One Green River shale sample was heated in situ up to 400 � Ca s X-ray-tomography images were recorded. The other samples were scanned before and after heating at 400 � C. During the heating phase, the organic matter was decomposed, and gas was released. Gas expulsion from the low-permeability shales was coupled with formation of microcracks. The main technical difficulty was numerical extraction of microcracks that have apertures in the 5- to 30-lm range (with 5 lm being the resolution limit) from a large 3D volume of X-ray attenuation data. The main goal of the work presented here is to develop a methodology to process these 3D data and image the cracks. This methodology is based on several levels of spatial filtering and automatic recognition of connected domains. Supportive petrographic and thermogravimetric data were an important complement to this study. An investigation of the strain field using 2D image correlation analyses was also performed. As one application of the 4D (space þ time) microtomography and the developed workflow, we show that fluid generation was accompanied by crack formation. Under different conditions, in the subsurface, this might provide paths for primary migration.

Single-contact pressure solution creep on calcite monocrystals

Abstract Pressure solution creep rates and interface structures have been measured by two methods on calcite single crystals. In the first kind of experiments, calcite monocrystals were indented at 40 °C for six weeks using ceramic indenters under stresses in the 50–200 MPa range in a saturated solution of calcite and in a calcite-saturated aqueous solution of NH4Cl. The deformation (depth of the hole below the indenter) is measured ex situ at the end of the experiment. In the second type of experiment, calcite monocrystals were indented by spherical glass indenters for 200 hours under stresses in the 0–100 MPa range at room temperature in a saturated aqueous solution of calcite. The displacement of the indenter was continuously recorded using a specially constructed differential dilatometer. The experiments conducted in a calcite-saturated aqueous solution of NH4Cl show an enhanced indentation rate owing to the fairly high solubility of calcite in this solution. In contrast, the experiments conducted in a calcite-saturated aqueous solution show moderate indentation rate and the dry control experiments did not show any measurable deformation. The rate of calcite indentation is found to be inversely proportional to the indenter diameter, thus indicating that the process is diffusion-controlled. The microcracks in the dissolution region under the indenter dramatically enhance the rate of calcite indentation by a significant reduction of the distance of solute transport in the trapped fluid phase. This result indicates that care should be taken in extrapolating the kinetic data of pressure solution creep from one mineral to another.