Anomalous electrical resistivity anisotropy in clean reservoir sandstones

North, Laurence J.; Best, Angus I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9558-4261. 2014 Anomalous electrical resistivity anisotropy in clean reservoir sandstones. Geophysical Prospecting, 62 (6). 1315-1326. 10.1111/1365-2478.12183

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Abstract/Summary

We report novel laboratory measurements of the full electrical resistivity tensor in reservoir analogue quartzose sandstones with clay contents less than 1.5%. We show that clean, homogeneous, visually uniform sandstone samples typically display between 15% and 25% resistivity anisotropy with minimum resistivity normal to the bedding plane. Thin-section petrography, analysis of fabric anisotropy, and comparison to finite-element simulations of grain pack compaction show that the observed anisotropy symmetries and magnitudes can be explained by syn-depositional and post-depositional compaction processes. Our findings suggest that: electrical resistivity anisotropy is likely to be present in most clastic rocks as a consequence of ballistic deposition and compaction; compaction may be deduced from measurements of electrical anisotropy; and the anisotropy observed at larger scales in well logging and controlled-source electromagnetic data, with maximum resistivity normal to bedding, is most likely the result of meso-scale (10−1 m–101 m) periodic layering of electrically dissimilar lithologies.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1111/1365-2478.12183
ISSN:	00168025
Additional Keywords:	Sandstone; Electrical anisotropy; Porosity; Compaction
Date made live:	21 Oct 2014 13:33 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/508652

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