Comparative study of methods to estimate hydraulic parameters in the hydraulically undisturbed Opalinus Clay (Switzerland)

Abstract

The deep borehole (DB) experiment gave the opportunity to acquire hydraulic parameters in a hydraulically undisturbed zone of the Opalinus Clay at the Mont Terri rock laboratory (Switzerland). Three methods were used to estimate hydraulic conductivity and specific storage values of the Opalinus Clay formation and its bounding formations through the 248 m deep borehole BDB-1: application of a Poiseuille-type law involving petrophysical measurements, spectral analysis of pressure time series and in situ hydraulic tests. The hydraulic conductivity range in the Opalinus Clay given by the first method is 2 × 10−14–6 × 10−13 m s−1 for a cementation factor ranging between 2 and 3. These results show low vertical variability whereas in situ hydraulic tests suggest higher values up to 7 × 10−12 m s−1. Core analysis provides economical estimates of the homogeneous matrix hydraulic properties but do not account for heterogeneities at larger scale such as potential tectonic conductive features. Specific storage values obtained by spectral analysis are consistent and in the order of 10−6 m−1, while formulations using phase shift and gain between pore pressure signals were found to be inappropriate to evaluate hydraulic conductivity in the Opalinus Clay. The values obtained are globally in good agreement with the ones obtained previously at the rock laboratory.