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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
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
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
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H. S. Salem
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
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 .
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
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):
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
Porosity, Formation Factor, Archie Cementation Factor, and Geometry Factor 595
S-H
Tortuosity (dimensionless)
Schleswig-Holstein
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