Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In coastal carbonate aquifers submitted to a saline intrusion, water - rock interactions processes at the interface between freshwater and saltwater are a cause for heterogeneities development within the porous media. The dissolutions and precipitations induced by the mixing zone play a major role in the transport properties of the reservoir and so in the long term evolution of the saltwater intrusion. The characterization and the in situ observation of a current saline intrusion in the Llucmajor carbonate platform at the experimental site of Ses Sitjoles (South-Easth of Mallorca Island, Spain), allowed to study the temporal evolution of the saltwater intrusion and the biogeochemical processes active in the mixing zone. The influence of microstructure, characterized using X-Ray microtomography, on the petrophysical and flow properties was investigated in laboratory and flow-through experiments were also conducted to study the modifications of the microstructures when submitted to water - rock interactions processes. The mixing zone at the Ses Sitjoles site appears as quite thick and not very sensitive to climate and anthropic stress and is proved to be the locus of active microbiological activity. Laboratory studies highlight a strong control of the microporosity on transport processes and of pCO2 on water - rock interactions. The percolation experiments of slightly reactive waters reveal calcite dissolution together with a decrease in permeability due to a rearrangement of micro-grains within the microporous network.
Les processus d'interactions fluide-roche à l'interface eau douce-eau salée, dans les aquifères carbonatés côtiers soumis à une intrusion saline, sont une des causes du développement d'hétérogénéités dans la structure du milieu poreux. Les dissolutions et/ou précipitations engendrées par la présence de cette zone de mélange jouent un rôle déterminant pour les propriétés de transport du réservoir et donc l'évolution à long terme de l'intrusion d'eau salée. En prenant l'exemple de la plateforme carbonatée de Llucmajor au niveau du site expérimental de Ses Sitjoles (Sud-Est de Majorque, Espagne), un travail de caractérisation et d'observation in situ à moyen terme de l'intrusion saline actuelle de ce réservoir permet de décrire son évolution temporelle et les processus biogéochimiques actifs dans la zone de mélange. L'influence de la microstructure du milieu poreux, caractérisée par microtomographie RX, sur les propriétés pétrophysiques et hydrodynamiques est étudiée en laboratoire et des expériences de percolations d'eaux réactives (mélanges eau douce - eau salée et eau pure chargée en CO2) sont réalisées afin d'étudier les modifications de ces microstructures lorsqu'elles sont soumises à des interactions eau - roche. La zone de mélange eau douce - eau salée rencontrée au niveau du site de Ses Sitjoles est large et peu sensible aux contraintes extérieures (climatologiques et anthropiques) et constitue un lieu d'activité microbiologique particulièrement actif. En laboratoire, on observe un fort contrôle des phénomènes de transport par la microporosité et des processus d'interactions eau - roche par la pCO2. Dans le cas d'une percolation de fluides moyennement réactifs, les expériences mettent en évidence une dissolution de calcite accompagnée par une diminution de la perméabilité, liée à un réarrangement des micro-grains à l'intérieur du réseau microporeux.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767152

tel-00767152
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767152
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767152/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767152/file/thesegaring.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Large sand intrusions often exhibit conical morphologies analogous to magmatic intrusions such as saucer-shaped or cup-shaped sills. Whereas some physical processes may be similar, we show with scaled experiments that the formation of conical sand intrusions may be favoured by the pore-pressure gradients prevailing in the host rock before sand injection. Our experiments involve injecting air into a permeable and cohesive analogue material to produce hydraulic fractures while controlling the pore pressure field. We control the state of overpressure in the overburden by applying homogeneous basal pore pressure, and then adding a second local pore pressure field by injecting air via a central injector to initiate hydraulic fractures near the injection point. In experiments involving small vertical effective stresses (small overburden, or high pore fluid overpressure), the fracturing pressure (lambda(fract)) is supralithostatic and two dipping fractures are initiated at the injection point forming a conical structure. From theoretical considerations, we predict that high values of lambda(fract), are due to strong cohesion or high pore fluid overpressure distributed in the overburden. Such conditions are favoured by the pore pressure/stress coupling induced by both pore pressure fields. The dips of cones can be accounted for elastic-stress rotation occurring around the source. Contrary to magmatic chamber models, the aqueous fluid overpressure developed in a parent sandbody (and prevailing before the formation of injectites) may diffuse into the surrounding overburden, thus favouring stress rotation and the formation of inclined sheets far from the parent source. For experiments involving higher vertical effective stresses (thick overburden or low pore fluid overpressure), the fracturing pressure is lower than the lithostatic stress, and a single fracture is opened in mode I which then grows vertically. At a critical depth, the fracture separates into two dilatant branches forming a flat cone. We make use of a P.I.V. (Particle Imaging Velocimetiy) technique to analyse plastic deformation, showing that these inclined fractures are opened in mixed modes. Close to the surface, they change into steep shear bands where fluids can infiltrate. The final morphology of the fracture network is very similar to the common tripartite architecture of various injection complexes, indicating that different mechanisms may be involved in the formation of dykes. Feeder dykes under the sill zones may open as tensile fractures, while overlying dykes may be guided by the deformation induced by the growth of sills. These deformation conditions may also favour the formation of fluid escape structures and pockmarks. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00745640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745640
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.10.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
An analytical solution in the Laplace domain is derived for modeling anomalous pressure diffusion during pumping tests in aquifer displaying hierarchical fractal fracture networks. The proposed solution generalizes all of the analytical models for fractal flow published previously by combining multifractal diffusion and nested multiporosity with transient exchanges, interface skin effects, and well storage effect. Solutions are derived for fracture-delimited blocks with planar, cylindrical, and spherical shapes, as well as with any fractional dimensional shapes. Any combinations of these shapes can be defined in order to model a large range of situations. Within each permeability level, the fractal properties of the fracture network can be specified and the fractal dimension can be distinct from the shape dimension of the block.
ISSN: 0043-1397

hal-00411549
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411549
DOI : 10.1029/2008WR007125

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Torsion experiments (inline image =3 × 10−4 s−1) were performed to investigate the large strain (γmax = 15) rheology on quartz-muscovite aggregate as analogue to pelitic rocks undergoing melting and crystallization during deformation at 300 MPa confining pressure and 750°C temperature. Microstructures reveal four distinct but gradational stages of crystal-melt interactions during deformation--(a) solid state deformation, (b) initiation and domination of partial melting, (c) simultaneous partial melting and crystallization, and (d) domination of crystallization. The microstructural stages are linked to the rheology of the deforming samples. Partial melting starts at relatively low finite shear strains (γ = 1-3) showing approximately 60% strain softening. At γ = 4-10 the partially molten bulk material shows a steady state flow at low stress. Further crystallization of new crystals at the expense of melt between γ = 10 and 15 causes weak strain hardening until the material fails by developing brittle fractures. The stress exponent (n), calculated at γ = 1, 5, and 10, increases from ∼ 3 to ∼ 43, indicating a transition from power to power law breakdown or exponential flow of the bulk system. Hydrostatic experiments for equivalent times and conditions of the torsion experiments were also conducted to evaluate the reaction kinetics and microstructures under static conditions. The new experimental data establish that partially molten rock does not flow according to a constant strain rate-dependent power law (steady state) rheology. The rheological transition from strain rate sensitive to strain rate insensitive flow is interpreted as a function of melt-crystal ratio, their mutual interactions, and the evolution of microstructures in the partially molten rock.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01053709
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053709
DOI : 10.1002/2013JB010777

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Clay shale landscapes are sensitive to landslide, erosion, and re-sedimentation processes. In this context, tectonized clay shales have peculiar hydrological and mechanical behaviours. In order to improve our understanding of the processes involved in such systems, an experimental site has been settled in the Draix Observatory (ORE DRAIX) on a black marl hill slope of the Southern Alps (France) in the framework of the ECOU-PREF project. The site is a natural laboratory to study the evolution of clay shale landscapes at several scales (regional to µm). In this study, we aim to characterize the internal structure and fissure patterns of a stable interfluve, in order to locate preferential water flows within the system, and anticipate its evolution. This work is based on a series of mutli-disciplinary approaches including petrophysical analyses, well pulse injection tests and downhole geophysical measurements. Borehole geophysical results were combined with laboratory measurements on core plugs (permeability, density, porosity, and acoustic velocity). Optical and acoustical images have been used as an original tool for internal discontinuities characterisation and potential active flow path detection. They allowed the identification of three main lithological units interpreted as several stages of shale alteration. In addition, several main structural plane discontinuities (open fractures, schistosity planes, and fractures infilled with calcite or clays) were identified from the images and their potential transmissivity discussed with regard to piezometric and tracer measurements. In all, the integration of measurements leads to propose a simple scenario of fluid circulation and chemical alteration of the interfluve.
ISSN: 0885-6087

hal-00757581
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00757581
DOI : 10.1002/hyp.7997