|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
GEOHORIZONS |
1 Shell International Exploration and Production, 200 North Dairy Ashford, Houston, Texas 77079;
orlando.ortega{at}shell.com
2 Department of Geological Sciences, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1101
3 Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78713-8924;
steve.laubach{at}beg.utexas.edu
Orlando J. Ortega received his M.S. degree and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a structural geologist specializing in fractures for Shell Exploration and Production in Houston, Texas.Randall A. Marrett is an associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin. Quantitative analysis of fracture systems is a major area of his research. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Stephen E. Laubach is a senior research scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, where he conducts research in structural diagenesis. His Ph.D. is from the University of Illinois.
Fracture intensity, the number of fractures per unit length along a sample line, is an important attribute of fracture systems that can be problematic to establish in the subsurface. Lack of adequate constraints on fracture intensity may limit the economic exploitation of fractured reservoirs because intensity describes the abundance of fractures potentially available for fluid flow and the probability of encountering fractures in a borehole. Traditional methods of fracture-intensity measurement are inadequate because they ignore the wide spectrum of fracture sizes found in many fracture systems and the consequent scale dependence of fracture intensity. An alternative approach makes use of fracture-size distributions, which allow more meaningful comparisons between different locations and allow microfractures in subsurface samples to be used for fracture-intensity measurement. Comparisons are more meaningful because sampling artifacts can be recognized and avoided, and because common thresholds of fracture size can be enforced for counting in different locations. Additionally, quantification of the fracture-size distribution provides a mechanism for evaluation of uncertainties. Estimates of fracture intensity using this approach for two carbonate beds in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico, illustrate how size-cognizant measurements cast new light on widely accepted interpretation of geologic controls of fracture intensity.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. E. Laubach, J. E. Olson, and M. R. Gross Mechanical and fracture stratigraphy AAPG Bulletin, November 1, 2009; 93(11): 1413 - 1426. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. E. Olson, S. E. Laubach, and R. H. Lander Natural fracture characterization in tight gas sandstones: Integrating mechanics and diagenesis AAPG Bulletin, November 1, 2009; 93(11): 1535 - 1549. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Ghosh and S. Mitra Structural controls of fracture orientations, intensity, and connectivity, Teton anticline, Sawtooth Range, Montana AAPG Bulletin, August 1, 2009; 93(8): 995 - 1014. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S.E. Laubach and K. Diaz-Tushman Laurentian palaeostress trajectories and ephemeral fracture permeability, Cambrian Eriboll Formation sandstones west of the Moine Thrust Zone, NW Scotland Journal of the Geological Society, March 1, 2009; 166(2): 349 - 362. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. L. Frost III and C. Kerans Platform-Margin Trajectory as a Control on Syndepositional Fracture Patterns, Canning Basin, Western Australia Journal of Sedimentary Research, February 1, 2009; 79(2): 44 - 55. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Bertotti, N. Hardebol, J. K. Taal-van Koppen, and S. M. Luthi Toward a quantitative definition of mechanical units: New techniques and results from an outcropping deep-water turbidite succession (Tanqua-Karoo Basin, South Africa) AAPG Bulletin, August 1, 2007; 91(8): 1085 - 1098. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. H. Makel The modelling of fractured reservoirs: constraints and potential for fracture network geometry and hydraulics analysis Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2007; 292(1): 375 - 403. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
