Publications related to Rock (geology)

Insights from an extensive triaxial testing campaign on a shale for comparative site characterization of a deep geological repository

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Eleonora Crisci

Several boreholes were drilled for site comparison of a deep geological repository (DGR) in Northern Switzerland. The main target of the exploration program was the >100m thick Opalinus Clay, the designated host rock encountered at approximately 450 to 100 ...

Elsevier2024

Water weakening and the compressive brittle strength of carbonates: Influence of fracture toughness and static friction

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Corentin Jean-Marie Rémi Noël, Barnaby Padraig Fryer

Water is ubiquitous within the pore space of rocks and has been shown to affect their physical and mechanical behaviour. Indeed, water can act on the rock strength via mechanical (i.e., reducing the effective stresses) or chemical effects (e.g., mineral di ...

2024

Fluid flow through microcracked and fractured granitic reservoirs

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Lucille Jocelyne Nadine Carbillet, Michael Heap

The permeability of crustal rocks and rock-masses dictates the efficiency of hydrothermal circulation and therefore the productivity of geothermal resources. In this study, we find by monitoring P-wave velocity that thermal microcracking in Lanhélin granit ...

2023

Reactivation of variably sealed joints and permeability enhancement in geothermal reservoir rocks

Alexandra Roma Larisa Kushnir, Michael Heap

Hydraulic stimulation of enhanced deep geothermal reservoirs commonly targets pre-existing joint networks with the goal of increasing reservoir permeability. Here, we study the permeability and strength of joint-free and jointed Buntsandstein sandstones fr ...

2023

Three-dimensional hydraulic fracture propagation in homogeneous and heterogeneous media

Carlo Peruzzo

Hydraulic fractures are tensile fractures that occur in solid materials due to the natural intrusion or anthropogenic injection of a viscous fluid into a fracture channel. The deliberate creation of hydraulic fractures is part of an industrial technology h ...

EPFL2023

Elongated hydraulic fracture emerging from layers of alternating fracture toughness

Brice Tanguy Alphonse Lecampion, Carlo Peruzzo

Whether used to enhance the hydrocarbon production from low permeability rocks or to measure the minimum in-situ principal stress in rock formations, height growth of a hydraulic fracture above the formation of interest is a key metric for the design of su ...

2023

The influence of water-saturation on the strength of volcanic rocks and the stability of lava domes

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Michael Heap

The rocks forming a volcanic edifice or dome are typically saturated or partially-saturated with water. However, most experiments aimed at better understanding the mechanical behaviour of volcanic rocks have been performed on dry samples, and therefore mos ...

2023

Physical characterization of fault rocks within the Opalinus Clay formation

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Luis Felipe Orellana Espinoza, Christophe Nussbaum

Near-surface disposal of radioactive waste in shales is a promising option to safeguard the population and environment. However, natural faults intersecting these geological formations can potentially affect the long-term isolation of the repositories. Thi ...

Nature Research2022

Experimental plastic reactivation of pseudotachylyte‐filled shear zones

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, François Xavier Thibault Passelègue

Pseudotachylytes are fine‐grained fault rocks that solidify from melt that is produced in fault zones during earthquakes. Exposed sections of natural fault zones reveal evidence of post‐seismic plastic deformation (i.e. reactivation) of pseudotachylyte, wh ...

2021

A new data set of granitic rock strength values from Yosemite Valley, California: applications to rock fall assessment

To explore connections between rock strength and rock falls, we undertook a comprehensive rock mechanics testing program for six granitic rock types in Yosemite Valley (California, USA) where rock falls are a common geomorphic and sometimes hazardous proce ...

2020

Rock strength properties of granitic rocks in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California

Federica Sandrone, Michel Jaboyedoff

Yosemite National Park, located in the central part of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, is a glacially carved landscape filled with iconic rock formations such as Cathedral Peak, El Capitan, and Half Dome. Igneous rocks, consisting primarily of variat ...

U.S. Geological Survey2020

Hydraulic stimulation of pre-existing discontinuities in tight rocks

Federico Ciardo

Hydraulic stimulation is an engineering technique whose aim is to enhance the permeability of fractured rock masses at depths ranging from one to five kilometers. It consists in the injection of fluid at sufficiently high pressure in order to shear pre-exi ...

EPFL2020

Propagation of fluid driven fractures in transversely isotropic material

Fatima-Ezzahra Moukhtari

The propagation of fluid driven fractures is used in a number of industrial applications (well stimulation of unconventional reservoirs, development of deep geothermal systems) but also occurs naturally (magmatic dyke intrusion). While the mechanics of hyd ...

EPFL2020

Evidence of extensive lunar crust formation in impact melt sheets 4,330 Myr ago

Cyril Cayron

Accurately constraining the formation and evolution of the lunar magnesian suite is key to understanding the earliest periods of magmatic crustal building that followed accretion and primordial differentiation of the Moon. However, the origin and evolution ...

2020

Petrophysical properties of heavy oil-bearing carbonate rocks and their implications on petroleum system evolution: Insights from the Majella Massif

Carolina Giorgetti

In this work, we investigate the role of hydrocarbons in changing the petrophysical properties of rocks by merging laboratory measurements, outcrops characterization, and subsurface data focusing on a carbonate-bearing reservoir (Bolognano Formation) of th ...

2020

Seismic and Microseismic Signatures of Fluids in Rocks: Bridging the Scale Gap

Lucas Xan Pimienta, Christian David

The aim of this collection is to record a snapshot of our current state of understanding of the impact of fluids on the evolution and monitorability of subsurface rock formations during anthropogenic fluid injection/withdrawal operations, accounting for sc ...

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION2019

Variations in elastic and electrical properties of crustal rocks with varying degree of microfracturation

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Lucas Xan Pimienta, Luis Felipe Orellana Espinoza

This work aims at investigating the effect of varying degrees of microfracturing on the joint elastic and electrical transport properties of rocks. Different crustal rocks were subjected to Thermal Treatment, expected to induce microfracturing, up to diffe ...

2019

Seismic Dispersion and Attenuation in Fluid-Saturated Carbonate Rocks: Effect of Microstructure and Pressure

Lucas Xan Pimienta

The frequency dependence of seismic properties of fully saturated rocks can be related to wave-induced fluid flows at different scales. The elastic dispersion and attenuation of four fluid-saturated carbonate rocks, with different microstructures, have bee ...

2019

Load transfer mechanisms in CFRP ground anchors with multi-strap ends

Thomas Keller, Anastasios Vassilopoulos, Haifeng Fan

An investigation of the load-transfer mechanism in carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) ground anchors with multi-strap ends was conducted based on experimental and numerical studies of one- and two-strap anchors. Differences in the strap geometry, i.e. ...

Elsevier2018

Dynamic anticrack propagation in snow

Johan Alexandre Philippe Gaume

Continuum numerical modeling of dynamic crack propagation has been a great challenge over the past decade. This is particularly the case for anticracks in porous materials, as reported in sedimentary rocks, deep earthquakes, landslides, and snow avalanches ...

Nature Research2018