Calculation of elastic properties in lower part of the Kola borehole from bulk chemical compositions of core samples

Abstract

In-situ elastic properties in deep boreholes are controlled by several factors, mainly by lithology, petrofabric, fluid-filled cracks and pores. In order to separate the effects of different factors it is useful to extract lithology-controlled part from observedin-situ velocities. For that purpose we calculated mineralogical composition and isotropic crack-free elastic properties in the lower part of the Kola borehole from bulk chemical compositions of core samples. We use a new technique of petrophysical modeling based on thermodynamic approach. The reasonable accuracy of the modeling is confirmed by comparison with the observations of mineralogical composition and laboratory measurements of density and elastic wave velocities in upper crustal crystalline rocks at high confining pressure. Calculations were carried out for 896 core samples from the depth segment of 6840–10535m. Using these results we estimate density and crack-free isotropic elastic properties of 554 lithology-defined layers composing this depth segment. Average synthetic P- wave velocity appears to be 2.7% higher than the velocity from Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP), and 5% higher than sonic log velocity. Average synthetic S-wave velocity is 1.4 % higher than that from VSP. These differences can be explained by superposition of effects of fabric-related anisotropy, cracks aligned parallel to the foliation plain, and randomly oriented cracks, with the effect of cracks being the predominant control. Low sonic log velocities are likely caused by drilling-induced cracking (hydrofractures) in the borehole walls. The calculated synthetic density and velocity cross-sections can be used for much more detailed interpretations, for which, however, new, more detailed and reliable seismic data are required.