The determination of permeability in in-situ marine-floor sediments
Abstract
A method of evaluating in situ permeability of unconsolidated marine floor sediments has been developed using mathematical manipulation of previously formulated empirical equations. The final equation makes use of various sediment characteristics that can be mathematically described and used to calculate permeability without greatly disturbing the sediment. The formula requires a knowledge of the soil's median grain size, pore shape, porosity, and formation factor (the resistivity of the fluid itself). Calculated permeabilities came to within 16% or less of those measured for a series of natural sands when a simple coefficient was introduced into the equation for the data available. Original calculated permeabilities were consistently close to five times greater than those measured for the same natural sand samples. The need for a coefficient to adjust calculated permeabilities could possibly be due to sorting effects that were not considered in the derivation; the incorporation of these effects remains an area of future investigation.
Report Number
SM-185Date
1985/11Author(s)
Goldsberry, Stephen L.