Experimental observation of water saturation effects on shear wave splitting in synthetic rock with fractures aligned at oblique angles

Amalokwu, K.; Chapman, M.; Best, A.I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9558-4261; Sothcott, J.; Minshull, T.A.; Li, X.-Y.. 2015 Experimental observation of water saturation effects on shear wave splitting in synthetic rock with fractures aligned at oblique angles. Geophysical Journal International, 200 (1). 17-24. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu368

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu368

Abstract/Summary

Fractured rocks are known to exhibit seismic anisotropy and shear wave splitting (SWS). SWS is commonly used for fractured rock characterization and has been shown to be sensitive to fluid type. The presence of partial liquid/gas saturation is also known to affect the elastic properties of rocks. The combined effect of both fractures and partial liquid/gas saturation is still unknown. Using synthetic, silica-cemented sandstones with aligned penny-shaped voids, we conducted laboratory ultrasonic experiments to investigate the effect fractures aligned at an oblique angle to wave propagation would have on SWS under partial liquid/gas saturation conditions. The result for the fractured rock shows a saturation dependence which can be explained by combining a fractured rock model and a partial saturation model. At high to full water saturation values, SWS decreases as a result of the fluid bulk modulus effect on the quasi-shear wave. This bulk modulus effect is frequency dependent as a result of wave-induced fluid flow mechanisms, which would in turn lead to frequency dependent SWS. This result suggests the possible use of SWS for discriminating between full liquid saturation and partial liquid/gas saturation.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu368
ISSN:	0956-540X
Additional Keywords:	Fracture and flow, Body waves, Seismic anisotropy
Date made live:	04 Feb 2015 16:25 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/509599

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu368

ISSN:

0956-540X

Additional Keywords:

Fracture and flow, Body waves, Seismic anisotropy

Date made live:

04 Feb 2015 16:25 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/509599