Understanding how fluids migrate through underground rock formations is essential for securely storing carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), managing groundwater resources, or cleaning up contaminated soils. A key parameter in this context is the capillary pressure, the pressure difference between two immiscible fluids, such as water and $CO_2$, in the pore space of rocks. However, reliable measurements of capillary pressure under realistic subsurface conditions are still limited.
Capillary pressure–saturation relationships were determined using the porous membrane technique within a custom-designed experimental platform SEPP (System for Experimental PetroPhysics) developed at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences. Measurements were conducted during both drainage and imbibition cycles under pressure and temperature conditions relevant for subsurface $CO_2$ storage reservoirs. SEPP enables integrated acquisition of key petrophysical parameters, including hydraulic, electrical, and elastic properties. This data publication presents two datasets capturing capillary pressure, electrical resistivity, and P- and S-wave velocities from tests on two distinct sandstone samples.
Steam-driven eruptions are explosions that frequently occur in volcanic and geothermal areas. They are powered by the sudden release and expansion of steam and liquid water trapped under high pressure within the pore spaces of host rocks. We have experimentally studied how the strength of rock hosting steam and liquid controls the nature of explosions based on examples from Lake Okaro (New Zealand). Specifically, we used experiments to estimate the relative amounts of energy that goes into breaking rock up, versus that required for ejecting particles upwards and outwards. Here we report the main methodological approach and results of petrophysical properties analyses, decompression experiments and estimation of explosivity of water, respectively.
This dataset is associated with the publication of Hefny, M., et al. (2020) A laboratory approach for the calibration of seismic data in the western part of the Swiss Molasse Basin: the case history of well Humilly-2 (France) in the Geneva area”. It includes data on mineralogical composition and experimental ultrasonic waves velocity measurements. It contains also seismic parameters calculated for the above-mentioned data. The measurements were performed as part of a database collection (SAPHYR) under the umbrella of the Swiss Commission of Geophysics (SGTK) and a project of the Canton of Geneva (GEothermie 2020), implemented by Services Industriels de Genève (SIG) for geothermal energy development (Moscariello 2019).
Here we report the raw data of the physical properties of carbonate samples collected along the Monte Maggio normal Fault (MMF), a regional structure (length ~10 km and displacement ~500 m) located within the active system of the Apennines (Italy). In particular, we report results coming from large cores (100 mm in diameter and up to 20 cm long) drilled perpendicular to the fault plane made of Calcare Massiccio (massive limestone) and Bugarone fm (limestone with 8.3 % of clay).
From these large cores, we obtained smaller cores, 38 mm in diameter both parallel and perpendicular to the fault plane, that have been used for experiments. We have divided the rock samples in four categories following the fault architecture. The four structural domains of the fault are:1) the hangingwall (HW) made of Bugarone fm that is still preserved in some portions of the fault, 2) a Cemented Cataclasite (CC) and 3) a Fault Breccia (FB) that characterize the cataclastic damage zones and 4) the correspondent undeformed protolith of the footwall block made of Calcare Massiccio.
Raw data reported here are those used for drawing Figures 5, 6, 8 and 9 of the paper “Physical and transport property variations within carbonate- bearing fault zones: Insights from the Monte Maggio Fault (central Italy)”, http://doi.org/10.1002/ 2017GC007097 by Trippetta et al.
Dataset_Fig05.txt reports P- and S-wave velocities (in km/s) of the described samples at pressure from 0.1 MPa (ambient pressure) up to 100 MPa at ambient temperature in dry conditions and the corresponding Vp/Vs ratio. Experiments have been performed by using the permeameter at the HP-HT Laboratory of experimental Volcanology and Geophysics at INGV (Rome).
Dataset_Fig06.txt reports permeability data (in m^2) on the same type of samples of fig05 for the same range of confining pressure at ambient temperature. Pore pressure values athletes each confining pressure step are indicated in the file. Data have been again acquired with the permeameter.
Dataset_Fig08.txt reports P-wave velocity data (in km/s) vs depth (in m), recorded on the portion that crossed the Calare Massiccio fm of three boreholes drilled in the Apennines: Varoni 1, Monte Civitello 1 and Daniel1. Data have been obtained by digitalizing each pdf file of the boreholes mentioned above, that are available at http://unmig.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/videpi/videpi.asp. Once digitalized, respect to the original pdf file, velocity data have been simply converted from um/f to km/s.
Dataset_Fig09.txt reports values of the maximum, minimum and average values of Critical fault nucleation length (in m) at each corresponding depth (in m) and applied confining pressure (in MPa). Critical nucleation lengths have been calculated by using the equations described in the text of the Trippetta et al paper and by using the elastic parameters calculated from data reported here. Data on earthquakes-depth distribution of the 2009 L'Aquila sequence can be found on Chiaraluce et al. (2011).