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17 - Fluid transport in hydrofractures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Agust Gudmundsson
Agust Gudmundsson
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London
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Summary

Aims

How hydrofractures transport crustal fluids is important in many fields of earth sciences, including petroleum geology, geothermal research, volcanology, seismology, and hydro-geology. In the previous chapters the focus has been on the transport of ground water, geothermal water, and gas and oil. Here the main examples come from two fields: man-made hydraulic fractures, as are used to increase the permeability of reservoirs (petroleum and geothermal); and volcanology, that is, the transport of magma through vertical (dykes), inclined (sheets), and horizontal (sills) intrusions. It should be stressed, however, that the basic principles of fluid transport in hydrofractures are the same irrespective of the type of fluid. Thus, the results obtained here apply equally well, with suitable modifications, to hydrofracture transport of ground water, oil, and gas. The principal aims of this chapter are to explain and discuss:

  • The source of the driving pressure (overpressure) in hydrofractures, including the effects of buoyancy.

  • The initiation, propagation, and fluid transport in man-made (artificial) hydraulic fractures.

  • Fluid transport in magma-driven fractures, primarily dykes and inclined sheets.

  • Fluid transport in fractures driven by hydrothermal fluids, that is, fractures that subsequently become mineral veins.

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Rock Fractures in Geological Processes , pp. 525 - 556
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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