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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
2006. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
DOI:10.1306/08250505059
A scale-independent approach to
fracture
intensity and average spacing measurement


Orlando J. Ortega,1 Randall A. Marrett,2 Stephen E. Laubach3
1Shell International Exploration and Production, 200 North Dairy Ashford, Houston, Texas 77079; orlando.ortega@shell.com
2Department of Geological Sciences, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1101
3Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78713-8924; steve.laubach@beg.utexas.edu
ABSTRACT
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.
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