A suite of laboratory measurements are being conducted on Geysers graywacke recovered from a drilled depth of 2599 meters in NEGU-17. The tests are being conducted to characterize the effect of pressure and fluid saturation on the seismic properties of the graywacke matrix. The measurements indicate that the graywacke is an unusual rock in many respects. Both compressional and shear velocities exhibit relatively little change with pressure. Water saturation causes a slight increase in the compressional velocity, quantitatively consistent with predictions from the Biot-Gassmann equations. Shear velocity decreases with water saturation by an amount greater than that predicted by the Biot-Gassmann equations. This decrease is attributed to chemomechanical weakening caused by the presence of water. Measurements of Q, from torsion experiments on room dry samples at seismic frequencies indicate unusually high Q, (~500). Water saturation decreases the shear modulus by 12 percent, again indicative of chemomechanical weakening. Q, is lower for the water saturated condition, but still relatively high for rock at low stress. Results of ultrasonic pulse propagation experiments on partially saturated samples are typical of low porosity rocks, being characterized by a monotonic decrease in compressional and shear velocity with decrease in saturation. An increase in shear velocity and low frequency shear modulus after vacuum drying indicates the presence of chemo-mechanical weakening resulting from the presence of small amounts of water.

Press the Back button in your browser, or search again.

Copyright 1994, Stanford Geothermal Program: Readers who download papers from this site should honor the copyright of the original authors and may not copy or distribute the work further without the permission of the original publisher.