Fracture size, frequency, and strain in the Cambrian eriboll formation sandstones, NW Scotland

Scottish Journal of Geology

Volumn 47, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 45-56

  Hooker, J N ^a   Laubach, S E ^a   Gomez, L ^a,b   Marrett, R ^c   Eichhubl, P ^a   Diaz Tushman, K ^a,d   Pinzon, E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

^b EXXONMOBIL UPSTREAM RESEARCH COMPANY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

^d BP AMERICA INC   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CALEDONIAN OROGENY; FRACTURE APERTURE; FRACTURE GEOMETRY; FRACTURE NETWORK; HETEROGENEITY; MICROCRACK; MICROSTRUCTURE; PALEOZOIC; PARAMETERIZATION; POWER LAW; SANDSTONE; SIZE DISTRIBUTION; STRAIN RATE; UPLIFT;

MOINE THRUST ZONE; SCOTLAND; UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 79959597427     PISSN: 00369276     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1144/0036-9276/01-420     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Baecher, G.B. & Lanney, NA. 1978. Trace length biases in joint surveys. In 19th U.S. Symposium on Rock Mechanics: Reno, University of Nevada, 56-65.
2. Bai, T. & Pollard, D.D. 2000. Fracture spacing in layered rocks: a new explanation based on the stress transition. Journal of Structural Geology, 22, 43-57.
3. Ballantyne, C.K., McCarroll, D., Nesje, A., Dahl, S.O. & Stone, J.O. 1998. The last ice sheet in north-west Scotland: Reconstruction and implications. Quaternary Science Reviews, 17, 1149-1184.
4. Becker, S.P., Eichhubl, P., Laubach, S.E., Reed, R.M., Lander, R.H. & Bodnar, R.J. 2010. A 48 m.y. history of fracture opening, temperature, and fluid pressure: Cretaceous Travis Peak Formation, East Texas basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 122, 1081-1093.
5. Bonnet, E., Bour, O., Odling, N.E., Davy, P., Main, I., Cowie, P. & Berkowitz, B. 2001. Scaling of fracture systems in geological media. Reviews of Geophysics, 39, 347-383.
6. Cawood, PA., Nemchin, A.A., Strachan, R.A., Kinny, P.D. & Loewy, S. 2004. Laurentian provenance and an intracratonic tectonic setting for the Moine Supergroup, Scotland, constrained by detrital zircons from the Loch Eli and Glen Urquhart successions. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 161, 861-874.
7. Coward, M.P. 1980. The Caledonian thrust and shear zones of N.W. Scotland. Journal of Structural Geology, 2, 11-17.
8. Coward, M.P. 1984. The strain and textural history of thin-skinned tectonic zones: examples from the Assynt region of the Moine thrust zone, NW Scotland. Journal of Structural Geology, 6, 89-99.
9. Elliott, D. & Johnson, M.R.W. 1980. Structural evolution in the northern part of the Moine thrust belt, NW Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 71 69-96.
10. Ellis, M. 2009. Fracture development and diagenesis of the Torridonian Applecross Formation, Northwest Scotland. M.S. thesis, The University of Texas at Austin.
11. Gillespie, PA., Walsh, J.J., Watterson, J., Bonson, C.G & Manzocchi, T. 2001. Scaling relationships of joints and vein arrays from The Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland. Journal of Structural Geology, 23, 183-202.
12. Gomez, LA. & Laubach, S.E. 2006. Rapid digital quantification of microfracture populations. Journal of Structural Geology, 28, 408-420.
13. Hall, A.M. 1991. Pre-Quaternary landscape evolution in the Scottish Highlands. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 82, 1-26.
14. Holdsworth, R.E., Alsop, G.I. & Strachan, RA. 2007. Tectonic stratigraphy and structural continuity of the northernmost Moine Thrust Zone and Moine Nappe, Scottish Caledonides. In Ries, A.C., Butler, R.W.H. & Graham, R.D. (eds) Deformation of the Continental Crust: The Legacy of Mike Coward. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 272, 123-144.
15. Holford, S.P., Green, P.F., Hillis, R.R., Underhill, J.R., Stoker, M.S. & Duddy, I.R. 2010. Multiple post-Caledonian exhumation episodes across NW Scotland revealed by apatite fission track analysis. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 167, 675-694.
16. Hooker, J.N., Gale, J.F.W., Gomez, LA., Laubach, S.E., Marrett, R. & Reed, R.M. 2009. Aperture-size scaling variations in a low-strain opening-mode fracture set, Cozzette Sandstone, Colorado. Journal of Structural Geology, 31, 707-718.
17. Knipe, R.J. & Lloyd, G.E. 1994. Microstructural analysis of faulting in quartzite, Assynt, NW Scotland: Implications for fault zone evolution. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 142, 229-254.
18. Kuiper, N.H. 1960. Tests concerning random points on a circle. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (A), 63, 38-47.
19. Lander, R.H., Larese, R.E. & Bonnell, L.M. 2008. Toward more accurate quartz cement models. The importance of euhedral vs. non-euhedral growth rates. AAPG Bulletin, 92, 1537-1564.
20. Laubach, S.E. 1989. Paleostress directions from the preferred orientation of closed microfractures (fluid-inclusion planes) in sandstone, East Texas basin, U.S.A. Journal of Structural Geology, 11, 603-611.
21. Laubach, S.E. 1997. A method to detect natural fracture strike in sandstones. AAPG Bulletin, 81, 604-623.
22. Laubach, S.E. & Diaz-Tushman, K. 2009. Laurentian paleostress trajectories and ephemeral fracture permeability, Cambrian Eriboll Formation sandstones west of the Moine thrust zone, northwest Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 166, 349-362.
23. Laubach, S.E., Reed, R.M., Olson, J.E., Lander, R.H. & Bonnell, L.M. 2004. Coevolution of crack-seal texture and fracture porosity in sedimentary rocks: Cathodo-luminescence observations of regional fractures. Journal of Structural Geology, 26, 967-982.
24. Laubach, S.E. & Ward, M.W. 2006. Diagenesis in porosity evolution of opening-mode fractures, Middle Triassic to Lower Jurassic La Boca Formation, NE Mexico. Tectono-physics, 419, 75-97.
25. Lloyd, G.E. & Knipe, R.J. 1992. Deformation mechanisms accommodating faulting of quartzite under upper crustal conditions. Journal of Structural Geology, 14, 127-143.
26. Marrett, R. 1996. Aggregate properties of fracture populations. Journal of Structural Geology, 18, 169-178.
27. Marrett, R., Ortega, O.O. & Kelsey, C. 1999. Power-law scaling of natural fractures in rock. Geology, 27, 799-802.
28. Mckerrow, W.S., Brasier, M.D. & Scotese, C.R. 1992. Early Cambrian continental reconstructions. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 149, 599-606.
29. Milliken, K.L. & Laubach, S.E. 2000. Brittle deformation in sandstone diagenesis as revealed by scanned cathodo-luminescence imaging with application to characterization of fractured reservoirs. In Pagel, M., Barbin, V., Blanc, P. & Ohnenstetter, D. (eds) Cathodoluminescence in Geosciences. New York, Springer Verlag, 225-243.
30. Narr, W. 1996. Estimating average fracture spacing in subsurface rock. AAPG Bulletin, 80, 1565-1586.
31. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1996. Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow. National Academy Press, Washington.
32. Odling, N.E., Gillespie, P. et al. 1999. Variations in fracture system geometry and their implications for fluid flow in fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs. Petroleum Geo-science, 5, 373-384.
33. Olson, J.E., Laubach, S.E. & Lander, R.H. 2009. Natural fracture characterization in tight gas sandstones: Integrating mechanics and diagenesis. AAPG Bulletin, 93, 1535-1549.
34. Ortega, O.O., Marrett, R. & Laubach, S.E. 2006. A scale-independent approach to fracture intensity and average spacing measurement. AAPG Bulletin, 90, 193-208.
35. Park, R.G, Stewart, A.D. & Wright, D.T. 2002. The Hebridean terrane. In Trewin, N.H. (ed.) The Geology of Scotland. The Geological Society, London 45-81.
36. Peach, B.N., Horne, J., Gunn, W., Clough, C.T., Hinxman, L.W. & Teall, J.J. 1907. The Geological Structure of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, U.K.
37. Philip, Z.G, Jennings, J.W. Jr, Olson, J.E., Laubach, S.E. & Holder, J. 2005. Modeling coupled fracture-matrix fluid flow in geomechanically simulated fracture networks. SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 8, 300-309.
38. Roberts, A.M. & Holdsworth, R.E. 1999. Linking onshore and offshore structures: Mesozoic extension in the Scottish Highlands. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 156, 1061-1064.
39. Stein, A.M. 1988. Basement control upon basement development in the Caledonian foreland, NW Scotland. Basin Research, 1, 107-119.
40. Strachan, R.A., Smith, M., Harris, A.L. & Fettes, D.J. 2002. The northern Highland and Grampian terranes. In Trewin, N.H. (ed.) The Geology of Scotland. The Geological Society, London, 81-148.
41. Strachan, R.A., Holdsworth, R.E., Krabbendam, M. & Alsop, G.I. 2010. The Moine Supergroup of NW Scotland: insights into the analysis of polyorogenic supracrustal sequences. In Law, R., Butler, R.W.H., Strachan, RA. & Krabbendam, M. (eds) Continental Tectonics and Mountain Building: The Legacy of Peach and Horne. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 335, 233-254.
42. Watson, J. 1984. The ending of the Caledonian orogeny in Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 141, 193-214.
43. Wilson, R.W., Holdsworth, R.E., Wild, L.E., McCaffrey, K.J.W., England, r.w., Imber, j. & Strachan, RA. 2010. Basement-influenced rifting and basin development: a reappraisal of post-Caledonian faulting patterns from the North Coast Transfer Zone, Scotland. In Law, R., Butler, R.W.H., Strachan, RA. & Krabbendam, M. (eds) Continental Tectonics and Mountain Building: The Legacy of Peach and Horne. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 335, 795-826.
44. WRIGHT, S.C. 1985. The Study of the Depositional Environments and Diagenesis of the Durness Group of North-West Scotland. Ph.D. thesis, University of Oxford.