ALL SAMPLES MUST BE DRY TO EFFECTIVELY ESTIMATE POROSITY, PERMEABILITY
AND TEXTURE.
CLASTICS
Rock Type.
Sand (silica (SiO2)) – unconsolidated (no matrix or cementing)
Sandstone(silica (SiO2))– consolidated – can be disaggregated
Colour of cuttings – Light grey, light brown grey etc.
TEXTURE
Induration. (poorly, moderately, well very well)
Loose – no cement or matrix = sand, visible matrix or cement on grains =
disaggregated.
Friable – easily pushed apart
Consolidation due to matrix/cement
Unconsolidated
Poorly cemented
Moderately cemented
Well cemented
Grain colour / transparency.
Grain colours (Greyish pink, pale pink, pale orange brown, smoky grey etc.)
Are grains pitted or frosted?
A-Grain Size (USE GRAIN SIZE CHART)
1.000-2.000mm Very course
0.500-1.000mm Coarse grained
0.250-0.500mm Medium grained
0.250-0.125mm Fine grained
< 0.125mm Very fine grained
B-Grains shape (NOT CHIP SHAPE)
This is how sharp the edges of the grains are as has effect on porosity and
permeability.
Rounded
Sub rounded
Sub angular
Angular
C-Sorting (How grains are arranged and sorted has effect on porosity and
permeability).
Very poorly sorted
Poorly sorted (ill sorted )
Moderately sorted
Well sorted
Very well sorted
Cement and matrix.
Cement is deposited chemically and matrix mechanically
1st put the type of cement/matrix. Predominantly well cemented, occasionally poorly
cemented, very well cemented.
Calcareous
Argillaceous
Dolomitic
Anhydritic / Gypsiferous
Siliceous
Pyritic
Sulphur
Kaolinitic
Sideritic etc.
Accessorie minerals and distribution or observations
Chert
Glauconite
Chlorite
Lignite / carbonaceous / coaly
Muscovite / mica
Pyrite
Sulphur
Hematite
Limonite etc.
PorosityWS
None – grains are tight together
Poor intergranular porosity – pores are not connected
Fair intergranular porosity – pores present within grains
Good intergranular porosity – Some pores between grains are connected
Excellent intergranular porosity – All pores are connected
Observations
Are there open pore throats or are they plugged with interstitial clay or kaolin?
CLAYS/SHALE
Rock Type.
Claystone - irregular and non-fissile.
Shale –fissile
Siltstone – scratch with glass rod to determine if silty or sandy.
Colour :- Light grey, light brown grey etc
Hardness
Brittle
Plastic
Crumbly – friable
Soft
Firm
Hard
Very hard – commonly siliceous
Texture
Waxy (looks like a candle)
Earthy (looks like dirt)
Laminated (thin beds through the sample – beware of PDC cuttings)
Rough
Greasy
Smooth
Accessories ( Do not mention things like non-calcareous, non-sandy etc.
its is not an elephant either and it is not mentioned.
Calcareous
Carbonaceous
Dolomitic
Sandy
Silty (for claystone description only)
Argillaceous (for siltstone description only)
Glauconitic
Pyritic
Micaceous, micromicaceous
Chert
Sulphur
Haematite
Evaporates
Rock Type
ANHYDRITE (CaSO4).
Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O).
Salt (NaCl).
Remember Anhydrite is de watered gypsum there for it is not hard!!! Mohs hardness
scale tells us gypsum is 2. The reason it drills so slow is it is dense!!! Look at the
wireline density -15%.
Colour/transparency
transparent
translucent
opaque
Hardness
Brittle - hard but crushes easily
Soft
Firm
Hard
Very hard
Crystal Size
1.000-2.000mm very coarse crystalline
0.500-1.000mm coarse crystalline
0.250-0.500mm medium crystalline
0.250-0.125mm Fine crystalline
0.125-0.063mm Very fine crystalline
0.063-0.004mm Microcrystalline
<0.004mm Cryptocrystalline
TEXTURE
Smooth
Chalky
Cryptocrystalline
CARBONATES
Rock Type.
Limestone(CaCO3 ) – fast fizz and granular
Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2 ) – slow lazy fizz and crystalline
Dolomitic limestone and variations etc.
Colour of rock –: Light grey, light brown grey etc.
Hardness
Soft
Friable
Firm
Hard
Very hard
Crystal Size for DOLOMITE / Grain Size for LIMESTONE
USE GRAIN SIZE CHART
1.000-2.000mm very coarse crystalline
0.500-1.000mm coarse crystalline
0.250-0.500mm medium crystalline
0.250-0.125mm Fine crystalline
0.125-0.063mm Very fine crystalline
0.063-0.004mm Microcrystalline
<0.004mm Cryptocrystalline
TEXTURE
Sucrosic
Vitreous
Rough
Smooth
Chalky
Oolitic
Styolitic
Earthy if very high argillaceous content
Accessories
Chert
Glauconite
Coal / carbonaceous
Muscovite / Mica
Pyrite
Sulphur
Fossils – mollusks, gastropods, foraminifera etc.
Trace fossils – escape burros, impressions, bioturbation etc.
Porosity
No visible porosity
Poor visible porosit
Fair porosity
Good porosity
Excellent porosity
POROSITY TYPES
Intergranular
Intercrystalline
Pinpoint
Vuggy
Birdseye
Inter / intra fossicular
Moldic
Fracture
Secondary mineralization
vug fill - fracture fill – interstitial plugging pore throats reducing permeability.
Dolomitic
Calcite
Quartz / siliceous