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Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 18536

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Interests: petrophysics; low temperature geochemistry; stone conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute with an original research paper or review articles for Applied Sciences, on a Special Issue called “Applied Petrology”, for peer-review and possible publication.

The scope of this Special Issue will involve original fundamental and applied research concerning experimental, theoretical, and case studies that contribute to the understanding of the behavior of rocks in different fields of science and engineering.

The issue will also comprise studies that relate the mineralogical composition and porous media of rocks to a wide range of petrophysical properties, such as rock strength and deformability, and fluid transport (permeability and sorptivity) as well as acoustic, thermal, electric, and magnetic properties of rocks.

The topics would include but are not limited to petrophysics for the characterization of hydrocarbon, geothermal, and storage reservoirs; rock mechanics; the durability of rocks used as building materials or found in the built heritage; natural stone as a raw material for construction; and further related topics.

Prof. Dr. David Benavente
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Petrophysics
  • Porous media
  • Rock texture
  • Mineralogy
  • Petrography
  • Mechanical strength
  • Permeability

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 13562 KiB  
Article
Aesthetic Quality Properties of Carbonate Breccias Associated with Textural and Compositional Factors: Marrón Emperador Ornamental Stone (Upper Cretaceous, Southeast Spain)
by Maria Concepción Muñoz-Cervera, Miguel Ángel Rodriguez-Garcia and Juan Carlos Cañaveras
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2566; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12052566 - 1 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1857
Abstract
The aesthetic properties of ornamental stones, including colour, texture, and the presence or absence of discontinuities, are influential in their use and marketing. This is particularly critical in brecciated rocks such as the Marrón Emperador (ME) ornamental stone, a dark brown breccia dolostone [...] Read more.
The aesthetic properties of ornamental stones, including colour, texture, and the presence or absence of discontinuities, are influential in their use and marketing. This is particularly critical in brecciated rocks such as the Marrón Emperador (ME) ornamental stone, a dark brown breccia dolostone (Upper Cretaceous, southeast Spain). ME shows a high chromatic and textural variability, which is one of its most appreciated commercial features. Through a petrographic, mineralogical, geochemical and colourimetric study of samples obtained from quarries, outcrops and/or drilling cores, several quality categories have been established, as well as the relationship between the aesthetic properties of ME ornamental stone with its compositional and textural factors. Three main types of breccia constitute the ME exploitable lithotect: crackle and mosaic packbreccias, and rubble floatbreccias. Breccia clasts are mainly composed of hypidiotopic-idiotopic medium- to coarsely-crystalline dolosparites, microcrystalline dolosparites and dolomicrites. Results show that diagenetic processes are mainly responsible for the colour of ME dolostones, revealing that the Sr content is a key factor. The darker brown dolomites always show a higher Sr content, where other typical chromophore elements in dolomites, such as Fe and Mn, do not present this correlation. This study provides evidence for the complexity of processes and factors that are responsible for aesthetic quality features in ornamental stones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects)
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18 pages, 4497 KiB  
Article
Mineralogical Transformations in Granitoids during Heating at Fire-Related Temperatures
by Patricia Vazquez, David Benavente, David Montiel and Miguel Gomez-Heras
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010188 - 24 Dec 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2823
Abstract
Fire is a major decay agent of rocks and can generate immediate catastrophic effects as well as directional and anisotropic damage that affect long-term weathering processes. Temperature increase is the most relevant factor, among other components in a fire, generating mineral transformations and [...] Read more.
Fire is a major decay agent of rocks and can generate immediate catastrophic effects as well as directional and anisotropic damage that affect long-term weathering processes. Temperature increase is the most relevant factor, among other components in a fire, generating mineral transformations and bulk mechanical damage. Mineralogical changes at high temperatures are key to understanding the overall mechanical behaviour. However, most studies to date were carried out after rock specimens were heated to a target temperature and cooled down to room temperature. Therefore, these studies are missing the observation of the actual mineral processes during heating. This paper aims to compare mineralogical changes in crystalline rocks during heating by means of XPS and different XRD techniques. Samples of four different granitoids were heated to several temperatures up to 1000 °C to evaluate their chemical and structural changes. Results show how standardised thermal expansion coefficients are not a suitable indicator of the bulk effect of high temperatures on rocks. Results also show how thermal expansion estimations from XRD lattice measurements may be an alternative to bulk dilatometric tests, as they can be performed with limited sampling, which may be necessary in some studies. Nevertheless, XRD and XPS results need to be interpreted carefully in relation to the bulk effects of temperature increase in the rocks, as the structural behaviour may seemingly contradict the macroscopic effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects)
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16 pages, 2418 KiB  
Article
Wettability of Carbonate Reservoir Rocks: A Comparative Analysis
by Mohsen Faramarzi-Palangar, Abouzar Mirzaei-Paiaman, Seyyed Ali Ghoreishi and Behzad Ghanbarian
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010131 - 23 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4812
Abstract
Various methods have been proposed for the evaluation of reservoir rock wettability. Among them, Amott–Harvey and USBM are the most commonly used approaches in industry. Some other methods, such as the Lak and modified Lak indices, the normalized water fractional flow curve, Craig’s [...] Read more.
Various methods have been proposed for the evaluation of reservoir rock wettability. Among them, Amott–Harvey and USBM are the most commonly used approaches in industry. Some other methods, such as the Lak and modified Lak indices, the normalized water fractional flow curve, Craig’s triple rules of thumb, and the modified Craig’s second rule are based on relative permeability data. In this study, a set of capillary pressure curves and relative permeability experiments was conducted on 19 core plug samples from a carbonate reservoir to evaluate and compare different quantitative and qualitative wettability indicators. We found that the results of relative permeability-based approaches were consistent with those of Amott–Harvey and USBM methods. We also investigated the relationship between wettability indices and rock quality indicators RQI, FZI, and Winland R35. Results showed that as the rock quality indicators increased, the samples became more oil-wet. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects)
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25 pages, 14676 KiB  
Article
An Integrated Study of Water Weakening and Fluid Rock Interaction Processes in Porous Rocks: Linking Mechanical Behavior to Surface Properties
by Davide Geremia, Christian David, Rachid Ismail and Alae El Haitami
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(23), 11437; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112311437 - 2 Dec 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2339
Abstract
We investigated the impact of water weakening on the mechanical behavior of Obourg Chalk and Ciply Chalk (Mons Basin, Belgium). Different mechanical tests were conducted to estimate the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), tensile strength, Young’s modulus, mechanical strength under triaxial loading, critical pressure, [...] Read more.
We investigated the impact of water weakening on the mechanical behavior of Obourg Chalk and Ciply Chalk (Mons Basin, Belgium). Different mechanical tests were conducted to estimate the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), tensile strength, Young’s modulus, mechanical strength under triaxial loading, critical pressure, fracture toughness, cohesion, and internal friction coefficient on samples either dry or saturated with water or brine. This extensive dataset allowed us to calculate wet-to-dry ratios (WDR), i.e., the ratio between any property for a dry sample to that for the water-saturated sample. For both chalks, we found that water has a strong weakening effect with WDR ranging from 0.4 to 0.75. Ciply Chalk exhibits more water weakening than Obourg Chalk. The highest water weakening effect was obtained for UCS, critical pressure, and Young’s modulus. Weakening effects are still present in brine-saturated samples but their magnitude depends on the fluid composition. The mechanical data were correlated to variations in surface energy derived from three different methods: fracture mechanics, contact angle goniometry, and atomic force microscopy. Water weakening in the tested chalks can be explained by a clear reduction in surface energy and by the existence of repulsive forces which lower the cohesion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects)
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17 pages, 5706 KiB  
Article
Properties of the Ignimbrites in the Architecture of the Historical Center of Arequipa, Peru
by Rosa Bustamante, Patricia Vazquez and Nicanor Prendes
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(22), 10571; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112210571 - 10 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2966
Abstract
The petrographic and petrophysical characteristics of three varieties of ignimbrites used in the architectural heritage of Arequipa (southwest Peru) are analyzed. The modal classification QAFP and TAS diagram discriminate their dacitic nature. Mercury injection porometry revealed very high porosity: 46.5% for white and [...] Read more.
The petrographic and petrophysical characteristics of three varieties of ignimbrites used in the architectural heritage of Arequipa (southwest Peru) are analyzed. The modal classification QAFP and TAS diagram discriminate their dacitic nature. Mercury injection porometry revealed very high porosity: 46.5% for white and beige ignimbrites, and 35.5% for the pink variety. Ignimbrites contain intrusions of vulcanodetrital fragments and vacuoles that influence their predominantly non-linear mechanical behavior. The results of water absorption by capillarity (C) and ultrasound pulse velocity (UPV) demonstrate a slight anisotropy for the beige variety and near isotropy for white and pink ignimbrites, which justify the randomness of the application of the ashlars in the masonry and in the selection of the faces to carve. Surfaces with hollows in the white and beige ignimbrites are the result of the erosion of the acicular pumice that fills the vacuoles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects)
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22 pages, 32242 KiB  
Article
Importance of Microstructure in Carbonate Rocks: Laboratory and 3D-Imaging Petrophysical Characterization
by Marie Leger and Linda Luquot
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 3784; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11093784 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2701
Abstract
Carbonate rocks are considered to be essential reservoirs for human development, but are known to be highly heterogeneous and difficult to fully characterize. To better understand carbonate systems, studying pore-scale is needed. For this purpose, three blocks of carbonate rocks (chalk, enthrocal limestone, [...] Read more.
Carbonate rocks are considered to be essential reservoirs for human development, but are known to be highly heterogeneous and difficult to fully characterize. To better understand carbonate systems, studying pore-scale is needed. For this purpose, three blocks of carbonate rocks (chalk, enthrocal limestone, and dolomite) were cored into 30 samples with diameters of 18 mm and lengths of 25 mm. They were characterized from pore to core scale with laboratory tools. These techniques, coupled with X-ray micro-tomography, enable us to quantify hydrodynamic properties (porosity, permeability), elastic and structural properties (by acoustic and electrical measurements), pore distribution (by centrifugation and calculations). The three rocks have similar properties to typical homogeneous carbonate rocks but have specific characteristics depending on the rock type. In the same rock family, sample properties are different and similarities were established between certain measured properties. For example, samples with the same hydrodynamic (porosity, permeability) and structural (formation factor, electrical tortuosity) characteristics may have different elastic properties, due to their cohesion, which itself depends on pore size distributions. Microstructure is understood as one of the essential properties of a rock and thus must be taken into account to better understand the initial characteristics of rocks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Petrology: Latest Advances and Prospects)
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