SEDIMENTARY FABRIC

SUBMITTED BY--------
SHIBA SHANKAR
ACHARYA
ROLL NO-08GG4012
INTRODUCTION
Ø Fabric is the mutual arrangement and orientation
of the fabric elements .
Ø Fabric elements of a sedimentary rock may be a
single crystal or sand grain, a shell or any other
component.
Ø The particles are originally deposited in a
gravitationally stable framework.
The above assumption has two complications.
1.Not true for fine particles.
2.liquefaction.
TYPES OF FABRIC
BASED ON ORIENTATION OF FABRIC ELEMENTS

1.ISOTROPIC=Orientation of fabric elements is random.

If the particles are highly

spherical no preferred fabric
will be discernable.

Particles are non-

spherical but have no
preferred fabric.
ANISOTROPIC=when a preferred orientation is present.

A-axes transverse to
flow with b-axes
imbricate
a(t)b(i .

A-axes parallel to flow

with a-axes imbricate.

a(p)a(i)
3.CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC=fabric shown by alignment of the
crystallographic direction.
(e.g. c-axes of quartz grains.)

C Of quartz grains
axes
BASED ON GENESIS OF FABRIC
Ø DEFORMATION=Produced by external stress on the
rock and results from a rotation or movement of
the constituent elements under stress or the
growth of the new elements in common orientation
in the stress field.

Ø APPOSITION =Formed at the time of deposition of

the material. This fabric records a response of the
linear elements to a force field, such as earth’s
gravitational or magnetic fields.

Ø GROWTH FABRIC=Orientations resulting from

crystal growth and often related to a free surface.
The growth of crystals normal to such surfaces as
in geodes, veins, & the like, are primary fabric of
this type.
 MEASUREMENT OF FABRIC
The orientation of a fabric element, may be described in terms of two
angles.
ü STRIKE/AZIMUTH=Angle between some axis of the pebble and
median.
ü INCLINATION=Angle between axis in question and the horizontal.
A diagram that shows both the azimuth and the inclination
of the long axis of a fabric element is known as petrofabric
diagram.

Measure the strike and dip

of the a-b plane.

FABRIC
POROSITY
ØThe porosity of rock is its property of
containing open spaces and can be
expressed as the ratio of the total volume of
its pore spaces to its total bulk rock volume.
Computer microtomograhy image showing the porosity of a
sandstone

Shale. sandstone
Ø Absolute porosity
=bulk volume-solid volume x 100
bulk volume
Ø Effective porosity
=interconnected pore volume x 100
bulk volume

on the basis of origin, POROSITY is of two types

ü Primary porosity=develops during deposition of

sediment. It includes both inter and intra particle
porosity.
ü Secondary porosity=develops during diagenesis by
dissolution & dolomitization & through tectonic
movements producing fracture in the rock.
Conditions affecting porosity in a
sedimentary deposit
1. The shape and arrangement of its constituent particles
2. The degree of assortment of its particles
3. The cementation and compacting to which a rock is
subjected
4. The removal of mineral matter through solution 
5. The fracturing of the rock, resulting in joints.

source= after lee(1919)

a. Packing density: the arrangement of the particles in the
deposit.

b. grain size:On its own, grain size has no influence

on porosity

d = sphere diameter; n = number of grains

c.Sorting :The better sorted the sediment the greater the

porosity.
This figure shows the relationship between sorting and porosity for
clay-free sands.

Overall, with increasing burial

depth the porosity of sediment
decreases.

porosity seems to be a
function of depth of burial,
according to the expression
P=p[e x e x e…..y times]
Where p=average porosity of
surface clays.
y=a x d
a=constant
Importance of porosity
Ø Especially it allows us to make estimations of
the amount of fluid that can be contained in a
rock (water, oil, spilled contaminants, etc.).

The total volume of oil is the total

volume of pore space (VP) in the oil-

ØEffective porosity is a
measure of permeability of a
rock.
SECONDARY POROSITY can be recognized by
vPartially dissolved grains.
vUndissolved clay rims around finer grains
vOversized pores i.e. large pores of the sizes &
shape of grains.
Methods of determining porosity
ü A common one is to measure the quantity of
water required to saturate a known volume of
the dry material.
ü Another is to compare the specific gravity of a
dry sample with that of a saturated sample of
the same material.

 
 PERMEABILITY
Ø Permeability is the property of a rock which allows the
passage of fluids without impairment of its structure or
displacement of its parts.
Ø A rock is said to be permeable if it permits an appreciable
quantity of fluids to pass through it in a given time .
Ø If the rate of passage is negligible the rock is said to be
impermeable.
More precisely, permeability (k) is an empirically-derived
parameter in D’Arcy’s Law, a Law that predicts the discharge
1 darcy is the
of fluid through a granular material.
permeability that allows
a fluid with 1 centipoise
viscosity to flow at a rate
of 1 cm/s under a
pressure gradient of 1
 Ø k is proportional to all sediment properties that
influence the flow of fluid through any granular
material.
ØTwo major factors controls the permeability
of a rock.
1. The diameter of the pathways through which the
fluid moves. of the path ways . (tortuosity)
2. Complexity

qAlong the walls of the pathway the velocity is zero (a

no slip boundary) and increases away from the
boundaries, reaching a maximum towards the middle to
the pathway.

qAlong the walls of the

pathway the velocity is zero (a
no slip boundary) and increases
away from the boundaries,
reaching a maximum towards
the middle to the pathway.
  Tortuosity is a measure of how much a pathway
deviates from a straight line.

The greater the tortuosity the

lower the permeability because
viscous resistance is
cumulative along the length of
the pathway.

The path that fluid takes

through a granular
material is governed by Path of fluid in a
how individual pore rock
spaces are connected.
EFFECTIVE POROSITY
1.PACKING DENSITY
 Smaller pathways reduce porosity and the size of
the pathways so the more tightly packed the
sediment the lower the permeability.

2.POROSITY

p
o Decreasing
r permeability
o
s The larger and more
i abundant the pore
t spaces the greater the
y
permeability.
permeability
3.GRAIN SIZE
Unlike porosity, permeability increases with grain size.

ØA ten-fold increase in
grain size yields a
hundred-fold increase
in permeability.

4.SORTING
The better sorted a
sediment is the greater its
permeability.
5.DEPTH OF BURIAL
Like porosity, permeability is changed following burial of a
sediment.

In this
example
D
E
P

permeability T
H
O
is reduced by F

two orders of
B
U
R

magnitude I
A
L
with 3 km of
PERMEABILITY
 Permeability is not necessarily isotropic .
Permeability changes its value with direction.
This is illustrated in the following figures.
graded
bedding

fracture
s
THANK YOU