Prediction of vein connectivity using the percolation approach: model test with field data

• Published in: Journal of geophysics and engineering 2006-09, Vol.3 (3), p.219-229
• Main Authors: Belayneh, M, Masihi, M, Matthäi, S K, King, P R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1742-2140; 1742-2132; 1742-2140
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-2132/3/3/003

Evaluating the uncertainty in fracture connectivity and its effect on the flow behaviour of natural fracture networks formed under in situ conditions is an extremely difficult task. One widely used probabilistic approach is to use percolation theory, which is well adapted to estimate the connectivity and conductivity of geometrical objects near the percolation threshold. In this paper, we apply scaling laws from percolation theory to predict the connectivity of vein sets exposed on the southern margin of the Bristol Channel Basin. Two vein sets in a limestone bed interbedded with shales on the limb of a rollover fold were analysed for length, spacing and aperture distributions. Eight scan lines, low-level aerial photographs and mosaics of photographs taken with a tripod were used. The analysed veins formed contemporaneously with the rollover fold during basin subsidence on the hanging wall of a listric normal fault. The first vein set, V1, is fold axis-parallel (i.e. striking ~100°) and normal to bedding. The second vein set, V2, strikes 140° and crosscuts V1. We find a close agreement in connectivity between our predictions using the percolation approach and the field data. The implication is that reasonable predictions of vein connectivity can be made from sparse data obtained from boreholes or (limited) sporadic outcrop.