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Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-255
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-255
27 Apr 2022
 | 27 Apr 2022

Multiscale lineament analysis and permeability heterogeneity of fractured crystalline basement blocks

Alberto Ceccato, Giulia Tartaglia, Marco Antonellini, and Giulio Viola

Abstract. The multiscale analysis of fracture patterns helps defining the geometric scaling laws and the relationships between outcrop- and regional-scale structures in a fracture network. Here, we present a novel analytical and statistical workflow to analyze the geometrical and spatial organization properties of the Rolvsnes granodiorite lineament (fracture) network in the crystalline basement of southwestern Norway (Bømlo Island). The network shows a scale-invariant spatial distribution described by a fractal dimension D ≈ 1.51, with lineament lengths distributed following a general scaling power-law (exponent   = 1.88). However, orientation-dependent analyses show that the identified sets vary their relative abundance and spatial organization with scale, defining a hierarchical network. Lineament length, density, and intensity distributions of each set follow power-law scaling laws characterized by their own exponents. Thus, our multiscale, orientation-dependent statistical approach can aid in the identification of the hierarchical structure of the fracture network, quantifying the spatial heterogeneity of lineament sets and their related regional- vs. local-scale relevance. These results, integrated with field petrophysical analyses of fracture lineaments, can effectively improve the detail and accuracy of permeability prediction of heterogeneously fractured media. Our results show also how the geological and geometrical properties of the fracture network and analytical biases affect the results of multiscale analyses and how they must be critically assessed before extrapolating the conclusions to any other similar case study of fractured crystalline basement blocks.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

09 Sep 2022
Multiscale lineament analysis and permeability heterogeneity of fractured crystalline basement blocks
Alberto Ceccato, Giulia Tartaglia, Marco Antonellini, and Giulio Viola
Solid Earth, 13, 1431–1453, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1431-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1431-2022, 2022
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Short summary
The Earth's surface is commonly characterized by the occurrence of fractures, which can be...
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