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Determination of Porosity,
Formation Resistivity Factor,
Archie Cementation Factor,
and Pore Geometry Factor for a
Glacial Aquifer
Hilmi S. Salem
Available online: 29 Oct 2010

To cite this article: Hilmi S. Salem (2001): Determination of Porosity, Formation


Resistivity Factor, Archie Cementation Factor, and Pore Geometry Factor for a Glacial
Aquifer, Energy Sources, 23:6, 589-596
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Energy Sources, 23:589 596, 2001


Copyright 2001 Taylor & Francis
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Determination of Porosity, Formation Resistivity


Factor, Archie Cementation Factor, and Pore
Geometry Factor for a Glacial Aquifer
HILMI S. SALEM

Downloaded by [Prof. Hilmi S. Salem] at 04:08 19 April 2012

Atlantic Geo-Technology
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Porosity (), formation resistivity factor (F), Archie cementation factor (m), and
pore geometry factor (a) have strong inXuences on the processes of electric-current
conduction through saturated porous media. In the present study, these parameters
were determined from electric resistivity measurements, along with grain size and
water analyses, for a fresh-water aquifer in northern Germany. The aquifer is composed of glacial deposits consisting of silts, sands, and gravels, with a majority of
sands and a small amount of clays. The and F exhibit, respectively, values ranging
from 25% to 51% and from 4 to 16, for which a range of 1.64 2.05 was obtained for
m, and a value of 1.25 was obtained for a. An inverse relationship between and F,
with a coeYcient of correlation of 0.95, was also obtained.
Keywords glacial aquifers, porosity, bulk and pore-water resistivities, formation
resistivity factor, Archie cementation factor, pore geometry factor, surface electric
measurements, grain-size and water analyses

Introduction
Porosity () of sediments can be classi ed into absolute porosity and eective
porosity. Absolute porosity is the fraction of void volume with respect to the bulk
volume, regardless of the pore connections. Eective porosity is that fraction of the
interconnected pores which accounts for the channels connecting the pores. Finegrained sediments exhibit higher than coarse-grained sediments because the
number of contacts between ne grains tends to increase, leading to a looser packing.
In one of the earliest studies on the grain and pore arrangement, Graton and Fraser
(1935) derived mathematically for a packing of uniform spheres. For the loosest
stable arrangement of equal-sized spheres, when the spheres centers form a rectangular space lattice (cubic packing) and each sphere is in contact with 6 neighboring
spheres, is maximum ( 47.6% ). In the densest state of packing, when the spheres
centers form a rhombohedral array and each sphere is in contact with 12 neighboring
spheres, is minimum ( 25.9% ).
The uniformity, shape, and sorting of grains are other important factors aecting
. A variety of grain size allows smaller grains to ll the pores between larger grains,
which results in a lower . Poorly sorted sediments generally have lower than wellsorted sediments. The higher the proportion of plate-shape d grains, the greater the
because the grains tend to aggregat e in the form of edge-to-edge arrangement or edgeRevised 30 May 2000; accepted 15 July 2000.
Address correspondence to Hilmi S. Salem, Atlantic Geo-Technology, 26 Alton Drive,
Suite 307, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3N 1L9, Canada. E-mail: hilmisalem@canada.com

589

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H. S. Salem

to-face arrangement. Thus the predominanc e of grains of a plate-like shape acts to


increase . Porosity is also in uenced by the load of sediments; it may considerably
decrease with an increase in con ning pressure. By increasing con ning pressure
(greater compression) , soft grains (clays and silts) may suer more than hard grains
(sands and gravels), which leads to a signi cant change in . Kezdi (1974) presented
values of ranging from 38 to 55% , correspondin g to sandy gravels, sands, and silts
when they are loose, and from 18 to 40% , corresponding to the same sediments when
they are dense. He also presented a range of from 45 to 70% for clays and silts when
they are soft and from 30 to 40% when they are hard.
The formation resistivity factor (F ) is a well-known parameter in electric investigations (surface, boreho1e, and laboratory), which is used for petrophysical
evaluation of reservoirs, aquifers, and engineering sites. It is a function of several
physical parameters and lithological attributes, including electric resistivities of
formation and pore water; temperature, viscosity, and degree of saturation of
pore water; type and amount of clays; mechanism of charge xation at the uidsolid interface (represented by speci c surface area and electric surface conductance);
intricate geometry of pores and pore channels (represented by tortuosity); size,
shape, and system of pores (represented by porosity); formations ability to transmit
pore water (represented by permeability); cation exchange capacity; and size, shape,
type (mineralogy), packing, sorting, and distribution of grains. It is also a function of
degrees of cementation, consolidation, and compaction (diagenesis) of sediments,
particularly when formations are under high overburden pressure, as in the case of
hydrocarbon reservoirs (Salem, 1994; Salem and Chilingarian, 1999a).
The Archie cementation factor (m) exhibits wide variations from sample to
sample, formation to formation, and interval to interval in the same medium and
from medium to medium. Atkins and Smith (1961) pointed out that m shows considerable variations from medium to medium because of variations in shape of grains
and pores. Ehrlich et al. (1991) showed that m varies widely and changes continuously in the borehole due to variations in depositional subfacies. The cementation
factor is aected by several in uences, including shape of grains and pores, type of
grains, pore system, speci c surface area, tortuosity, anisotropy, and overburden
pressure. Higher angularity (less sphericity) of the grains results in higher values
of m. An increase of clay content (shaliness), presence of certain clay minerals
with dierent grain shapes, and presence of heterogeneous mixtures of sediments
or rocks lead to an increase in m. Dierent pore systems (intergranular, intercrystalline, fractured, or vuggy) cause variations of m. For example, an increase of fracturing decreases the value of m (Aguilera, 1976), and an increase of vugginess
increases the value of m (Lucia, 1983). An increase in the speci c surface area,
due to abundance of ne-grained sediments and/or sediments of high degree of
irregularity of grains, causes an increase of m. In micro-porous systems with many
dead-end pores, and in porous materials with grains of irregular shapes as well as in
rocks characterized by complexity of electrolytic paths, electric current encounters
more resistance, resulting in higher values of tortuosity and m. Anisotropy, as a
measure of variations of physical properties in the horizontal and vertical directions,
contributes to variations of m. Compression of rocks results in radical changes in
pore structure and shape of grains. As the degree of compaction increases, grains are
attened (become more deformed), which results in higher degrees of angularity,
pore constriction, cementation, and thermal expansion, as well as higher resistivity
(higher m).

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Porosity, Formation Factor, Archie Cementation Factor, and Geometry Factor 591
Wyllie and Rose (1950) and Wyllie and Gregory (1953) pointed out that m can
vary in the mathematical sense between one and in nity, but practically, it lies within
the limits of 1.3 and 3.0, as originally observed by Archie (1942). Keller (1982)
summarized dierent values for m, showing that m is a function of lithology,
porosity, compaction, cementation, and age of sediments or rocks. The general
range of m given in the literature is between slightly , 1 for fractured rocks
(Aguilera, 1976; Jorgensen, 1988) and 5.12 for well consolidated and highly compacted rocks (Wyble, 1958). It is, for example, 1.09 for porous dolomites; 1.3 for
glass spheres; 1.3 1.6 for homogeneous clean sands; 1.5 2.3 for heterogeneous sediments; 1.8 3.0 for compacted sandstones and limestones; and 1.8 4.2 for shaly
sandstones and siltstones (dirty rocks) (Salem and Chilingarian, 1999b).
The pore geometry factor (a, also known as tortuosity factor, which is dierent
from tortuosity, ) is an indicator of the geometry of pores in a porous medium. This
factor generally decreases with an increase in compaction, consolidation, and age of
sediments or rocks. For consolidated sandstones, Winsauer et al. (1952) assigned a
value of 0.62 for a and a value of 2.15 for m (Humble equation). Keller and
Frischknecht (1966) stated that sediments of intergranular porosity can have an a
value of around 1. Parkhomento (1967) obtained a value of 0.4 for a, corresponding
to consolidated sandstones. For shaly sandstone reservoirs, Salem and Chilingarian
(1999b) obtained an averge value of 0.44 for a.

Glacial aquifers
A numerous number of fresh-water aquifers of glacial origin are present in dierent
regions of the world, such as the northern central part of the United States of
America, the southern part of Canada, and the northern part of Europe. Glacial
aquifers generally consist of silts, sands, and gravels, with variable amounts of clays
and wide ranges of size, shape, and type of grains. Large quantities of the sands and
gravels were deposited as outwash material, swept out from the melting glaciers by
the forces of melt-water streams and moraines in front of the glaciers. The glacial
aquifers are characterized by a great degree of heterogeneity, laterally and vertically
(e.g., McDonald and Wantland, 1961; Frohlich, 1973; Kelly, 1977; Urish, 1981;
Frohlich and Kelly, 1985; Mazac et al., 1985; Martin and Frind, 1998; Salem, 2000).
The investigated area, Segeberger forest, forms about 10% of the total area of
the province of Schleswig-Holstein (S-H), northern Germany. The area is of
Pleistocene age (Einsele and Schulz, 1973), with an altitude ranging from 25 to
65 m above sea level. The annual precipitation is about 800 mm/yr, distributed as
500 mm evaporation, 60 mm runo, and 240 mm in ltration recharging the aquifer
system. The thickness of the aquifer ranges from 30 to 70 m, and the depth of the
water table ranges from 3 to 12 m (Salem, 2000). The aquifer is underlain by an
aquiclude composed of boulder clays, known as ``Geschiebemergel. In this study,
emphasis is placed on determination of the porosity (), formation resistivity factor
(F ), Archie cementation factor (m), and pore geometry factor (a) for the S-H aquifer,
using surface electric measurements along with grain size and water analyses.

Theory
For glacial aquifers, Urish (1981) obtained the following empirical equations
[Equations (1) and (2)] that relate maximum porosity (m ax ) and minimum porosity

592

H. S. Salem

(m in) to grain-size distribution in terms of grain size regressed at weight of 50%


(D50 ) and uniformity coe cient (Uc ):
log max 1:62563 0:08653 log D50 0:03636 log Uc

log min 1:53902 0:18968 log D50 0:08201 log Uc

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The uniformity coe cient (dimensionless) is de ned as the ratio of the grain size
regressed at weight of 90% (D90 ) to the grain size regressed at 10% (D10 ). The values
of D10 , D50 , and D90 (in mm) can be obtained from accumulative curves that represent the weight percentage and grain-size distribution. The average porosity (av ), in
% , can be obtained as {(m ax m in )/2}.
Archie (1942) de ned F as the ratio of the resistivity of a saturated formation
(Rb ) to the resistivity of pore-water (Rw ), i.e.,
F Rb =Rw

For sediments and sedimentary rocks, Archie (1942) developed the following
equation, which was later modi ed by Winsauer et al. (1952), and thus known as the
Archie-Winsauer equation, showing the dependence of F (dimensionless) on (fractional) in relation to a and m, where both are dimensionless:
F a=m

yields

m flog F log a= log g

4
5

The cementation factor, m, indicates reduction in the number and size of pore openings or reduction in the closed-o(dead-end) channels. It is de ned as the logarithm
of throat area divided by the logarithm of pore area (inverse of the nonlogarithmic
de nition of aspect ratio; pore area/throat area). This de nition of m suggests that
the closer the value of throat radius to pore radius, the closer the value of m to unity.
For unconsolidated sediments, a value of around 1 is generally used for a.
Otherwise, a more precise value can be obtained for a from the log-log relationship
between F and (in % ) as the intercept of the best tting line with the F-scale at the
value of of 100% . From the same relationship, an average value can be obtained
for m as the slope of the line. Also, Equation (5) enables one to obtain dierent
values for m if values of F and , as well as a value of a, were known.
For unconsolidated sediments with F ranging from 1 to 20 and of >10% ,
Dakhnov (1962) developed, theoretically, the following equation that suggests an
increase in resistivity proportional to a decrease in porosity:
F f1 0:251 0:333 g=f1 1 0:667 g

Methodology
For samples of sediments obtained from several wells penetrating the S-H aquifer at
depths ranging from 1 to 32 m, accumulative curves between the weight percentage
and the grain-size distribution were constructed, from which D10 , D50 , and D90 were
obtained. The maximum, minimum, and average porosities were obtained in accord
with Equations (1) and (2). The formation resistivity factor was obtained in accord
with Equation (3). The bulk resistivity and pore-water resistivity required in

Porosity, Formation Factor, Archie Cementation Factor, and Geometry Factor 593
Equation (3) were, respectively, obtained from surface electric measurements and
pore-water analysis. From the log-log relationship between F and (average), a
value of 1.25 was obtained for a, which was then used in Equation (5) to obtain various
values for m at dierent depths, corresponding to the various values of F and .

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Results and Discussion


The fractions of silts; ne, medium, and coarse sands and gravels; and a small
amount of clays were recognized at the various depths penetrated by the wells. In
his study on the same area, Schroeter (1983) pointed out that the clay fraction does
not exceed 1.5% . The wide variations of grain size, re ected in wide variations of the
parameters determined, indicate that the sediments are heterogeneous, laterally and
vertically.
The formation resistivity factor exhibits a range between 3.8 and 15.8
(average 9.6), which corresponds to a range of between 25 and 51%
(average 35.5% ). The values of F are relatively low because they correspond to
high pore-water resistivities (13 83 .m; average 39 .m) as well as high bulk
resistivities (114 3400 .m; average 823 .m). Since the clay content is small, the
dierences between the apparent and intrinsic formation factors are negligible, which
indicates that the electric current is mainly conducted via the pore water. The formation resistivity factor and porosity are inversely correlated to each other, as shown
in Figure 1 and expressed in the following equation, with a coe cient of correlation
(Rc ) of 0.946:
F 25:739 0:45458

The Archie cementation factor, m, has a range between 1.64 and 2.05
(average 1.87), corresponding to the above ranges of F and and the a value of
1.25 (mentioned above). The variations of m are attributed to variations in the size
and shape of the grains, heterogeneity and anisotropy of the sediments, and nonuniformity of the pore-water and bulk resistivities. The lower values of m may

Figure 1. Porosity ( 25 51% ; average 35.5% ) versus formation resistivity factor


(F 3.8 15.8; average 9.6), dimensionless, corresponding to a range of pore-water resistivity
(Rw 13 83 .m; average 39 .m) and a range of the Archie cementation factor
(m 1.64 2.05; average 1.87), dimensionless, as well as a value of the pore geometry factor
(a) of 1.25, dimensionless, for a glacial aquifer in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany.

594

H. S. Salem

indicate coarse-grained sediments saturated with more resistive pore water, and the
higher values of m may indicate ne-grained sediments saturated with less resistive
pore water.
A value of 1.89 (close to the average value of 1.87) was also obtained for m as the
power magnitude of the following equation that represents the best tting line of the
inverse log-log relationship between F and (Rc 0.944):

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F 7381:71:8908

The results suggest that Equation (7) can be applied to heterogeneous sediments
with porosity values of 25 51% , meanwhile Equation (8) can be applied to heterogeneous sediments with porosity values of 25 51% . This means that both equations can be used for the same range of porosity (25 51% ), which give small
dierences in the value of F. In addition, Equation (7) can be used for porosities
of 25% and Equation (8) can be used for porosities of 51% .

Conclusions
In their investigations of aquifers, researchers have given little attention to the
Archie cementation factor and pore geometry factor in comparison to those of
hydrocarbon reservoirs. In this study, emphasis is placed, in particular, on the
Archie cementation factor and the pore geometry factor obtained for a freshwater aquifer (Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany) with respect to the porosity
and the formation resistivity factor. The aquifer is composed of heterogeneous and
anisotropic glacial deposits that primarily consist of silts, sands, and gravels. The
porosity, formation resistivity factor, Archie cementation factor, and pore geometry
factor were determined from surface electric measurements along with water and
sediment analyses. The variations of these parameters are attributed to several
in uences, including grain and pore sizes and shapes, pore-water and formation
resistivities, and heterogeneity and anisotropy of the sediments. The empirical equations and the values of the Archie cementation factor and the pore geometry factor
obtained in this study can be successfully used for similar deposits.

Nomenclature
D10
D50
D90
F
Rb
Rw
Rc
Uc
a
m

av
m ax
m in

Diameter of grains regressed at a weight of 10% (mm)


Diameter of grains regressed at a weight of 50% (mm)
Diameter of grains regressed at a weight of 90% (mm)
Formation resistivity factor (dimensionless)
Bulk resistivity (.m)
Pore-water resistivity (.m)
Correlation coe cient (dimensionless)
Uniformity coe cient (dimensionless)
Pore geometry factor (dimensionless)
Archie cementation factor (dimensionless)
Porosity (fraction or % )
Average porosity (fraction or % )
Maximum porosity (fraction or % )
Minimum porosity (fraction or % )

Porosity, Formation Factor, Archie Cementation Factor, and Geometry Factor 595

S-H

Tortuosity (dimensionless)
Schleswig-Holstein

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