Prediction of Porosity and Density of Calcarenite Rocks from P-Wave Velocity Measurements

Abdelaali Rahmouni, Abderrahim Boulanouar, Mohamed Boukalouch, Yves Géraud, Abderrahim Samaouali, Mimoun Harnafi, Jamal Sebbani

Department of Earth Science, Scientific Institute, Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco.
Laboratory of Thermodynamics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco.
University of Strasbourg, EOST, Institute of Global Physics, Strasbourg Cedex, France.

DOI: 10.4236/ijg.2013.49124                

Abstract

Petrophysical proprieties such as porosity, density, permeability and saturation have a marked impact on acoustic proprieties of rocks. Hence, there has been recently a strong incentive to use new geophysical techniques to invert such properties from seismic or sonic measurements for rocks characterization. The P-wave velocity, which is non-destructtive and easy method to apply in both field and laboratory conditions, has increasingly been conducted to determine the geotechnical properties of rock materials. The P-wave velocity of a rock is closely related to the intact rock properties, and been measuring the velocity in rock masses describes the rock structure and texture. The present work deals with the use of a simple and non-destructive technique, ultrasonic velocity, to predict the porosity and density of calcarenite rocks that are characteristic in historical monument. The ultrasonic test is based on measuring the propagation time of a P-wave in the longitudinal direction. Good correlations between P-wave velocity, porosity and density were found, which indicated them as an appropriate technique for estimating the porosity and density.

Keywords

Calcarenite Rocks; Porosity; Density; P-Wave Velocity; Regression Analysis; T Student

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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