GEOPHYSICS. VOL. 76, NO. 6 (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011); P. E211E226, 16 FIGS., 2 TABLES. 10.1190/GEO2011-0047.

Elastic properties of microporous cemented grainstones

Franois Fournier1, Philippe Leonide2, Kvin Biscarrat1, Arnaud Gallois1, Jean Borgomano1, and Anneleen Foubert3

ABSTRACT
We investigated the effect of porosity, pore geometry, and diagenetic history on the elastic properties of dry, tightly cemented grainstones whose pore space consists dominantly of intragranular microporosity within micritic grains. The integration of laboratory petrophysical measurements (porosity, P- and S-wave velocity), petrographic analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging of micropore space of 80 Lower Cretaceous microporous carbonate samples from Provence (south-east France) allows (1) the changes in porosity and pore geometry during the diagenetic history to be related to changes in elastic properties, and (2) the impact of micritic grain diagenesis on the elastic properties of microporous grainstones to be quantified by means of fitting parameters derived from equivalent elastic medium modeling. The Urgonian microporous

cemented grainstones are elastically equivalent to a homogeneous calcitic host with spherical calcitic inclusions comprising spheroidal pores. The best fit is obtained when porous spheres are modelled using the differential effective medium (DEM) approach and the whole composite using the self-consistent (SC) method (DEM-SC model). At lower porosity values (<20%), when the micropore volume is controlled by intercrystalline cementation processes without compaction, the equivalent pore aspect ratio (EPAR) derived from DEM-SC modelling is nearly constant and averages 0.15. At higher porosities, changes in micropore space architecture related to leaching processes result in slightly increasing EPAR. The recognition of EPAR-preserving versus EPAR-non preserving elastic property evolution is proposed as a tool for diagenetic pattern detection in microporous carbonate reservoirs.

INTRODUCTION
A major challenge in carbonate reservoir characterization is to correlate geological data with petrophysical properties that can be used to populate sedimentary bodies in reservoir modeling (Grammer et al., 2004). Petrophysical, textural, diagenetic, and geochemical properties of carbonate reservoirs are heterogeneous due to the complexity and diversity of the primary carbonate factory and cementation and dissolution processes (diagenesis) modifying the mineralogy and pore structure of carbonate sediments (Moore, 1989; Morse and Mackenzie, 1990; Tucker and Bathurst, 1990; Tucker and Wright, 1990). Numerous carbonate reservoirs in the Middle East are dominantly micritic and/or are characterized by a mud-supported

microporous facies (Wilson, 1975; Wilson, 1980; Budd, 1989; Witt and Gokdag, 1994). In such reservoirs, porosity ranges from 0 to 25%, whereas permeability values can reach up to several hundred mD (Volery et al., 2009). Their microporous nature makes oil extraction even more difficult because of the heterogeneous distribution of reservoir properties, and strong capillary forces due to narrow pore throats, which retain much of the oil in place (Kirkham et al., 1996). Despite their economic importance, the genesis of microporous carbonate reservoir rocks is poorly understood. Many hypotheses explaining the origin of porosity of these carbonates have been discussed (e.g., Budd, 1989; Ahr, 1989; Kaldi, 1989; Moshier, 1989; Saller and Moore, 1989; Cantrell and Hagerty, 1999; Lambert et al., 2006; Richard et al., 2007; Volery et al., 2009). Moreover, the

Manuscript received by the Editor 4 February 2011; revised manuscript received 18 April 2011; published online 13 January 2012. 1 Universit de Provence, Geology of Carbonate Systems and Reservoirs Laboratory, Marseille, France. E-mail: Francois.Fournier@univ-provence.fr; Jean.Borgomano@univ-provence.fr; k.biscarrat@aliceadsl.fr; peycors13@hotmail.com. 2 VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Department of Sedimentology and Marine Geology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: philippe.leonide@univ-provence.fr. 3 Geo-Instituut Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: Anneleen.Foubert@ees.kleuven.be. 2012 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved. E211

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Fournier et al. petrophysical properties in a well-understood area, (2) perform measurements on samples characterized by the same diagenetic history and the same dominant pore types, and (3) compare, in the same carbonate system, nonporous versus microporous carbonates from diagenetic and petrophysical approaches.

mixture of different porosity types in most carbonate rocks make it difficult to establish simple laws between elastic properties (velocity, density) and porosity. The compressional to shear wave velocity ratio (V P V S ) is an important parameter for interpreting geophysical field data, and has been claimed to provide lithologic information (Wilkens et al., 1984; Duffaut and Landr, 2007). Laboratory studies (Rafavich et al., 1984; Anselmetti and Eberli, 1993; Wang, 1997; Eberli et al., 2003; Baechle et al., 2008) have shown that porosity and pore type are the two main factors controlling the seismic response in carbonate reservoirs. However, at present, no well-constrained correlation exists between the pore structure and V P V S ratio. To understand the influence of mineralogy, pore shape parameters, and pressure on the V P V S ratio in carbonate rocks, relations between acoustic properties and porosity in carbonates should be established. This especially should be done in carbonate rocks that have a large range in porosity values, but with one dominant pore shape. Microporous micrites (with intercrystalline microporosity) have been shown to exhibit a similar behavior to siliciclastic sands, but with a smaller critical porosity around 1520% (Fournier and Borgomano, 2009). The Urgonian limestones from Provence are excellent outcrop analogues of microporous carbonate reservoirs which are encountered in the Middle East (Thamama, Kharaib and Shuaiba formations), this in terms of both facies (age, depositional facies, and environment), and reservoir properties (Masse, 1976). The Provence Urgonian Platform is located on the southern margin of the Vocontian Basin, and developed from Valanginian to Early Aptian times (Masse, 1993). Shallow-water carbonate environments reached their largest extent during the Late Barremian and Early Aptian. The Urgonian carbonates provide the unique opportunity to (1) define the impact of diagenetic transformations on

DATA SET AND METHODS Carbonate data set

The data set consists of 85 microporous limestone samples from Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates, collected in various outcrops in south-east France (Figure 1). Porosity values range from 0.5 to 25.5%. Rock samples were selected using the following criteria: (1) a grainstone texture and (2) the absence of intergranular, intercrystalline, or moldic macroporosity.

Laboratory petrophysical measurements

We prepared in the laboratory, using a water-cooled diamond coring drill, 3.81-cm (1.5-inch) diameter, vertically oriented, cylindrical plugs from rock samples collected in the field. Sample ends were ground flat and paralleled to within 0.01 mm. The samples were first dried in a 60C oven for at least 72 hours and equilibrated 48 hours to room temperature and humidity conditions (2023 C, 5060%) before dry measurements where performed because less than 1% of water can significantly reduce the bulk and shear moduli (Clark et al., 1980; Mavko et al., 1995, 1998). Dry mass of the samples was measured on 80 samples and dry bulk density calculated from the dry mass and measured cylinder volume. Grain densities () were measured using a Micromeritics AccuPyc 1330 helium pycnometer. Total porosity was calculated from the computed dry bulk density and measured grain density. More detailed procedures are described by Kenter and Ivanov (1995). Acoustic velocity, density, and porosity were measured on 80 samples (Petrophysical laboratory, VU University). Ultrasonic compressional P- (V P ) and S-wave (V S ) velocities were measured as a function of pressure using a transducer arrangement (Verde Geoscience) that propagated one compressional and two independent and orthogonally polarized shear waves (V S1 and V S2 ) along the core axis. The transducer consists of a source crystal excited by a fast rise-time electrical voltage pulse, producing an ultrasonic pulse with a frequency of 1 MHz, which was recorded by a receiver crystal. Measuring the one-way traveltime of the acoustic wave along the sample axis and dividing by the sample length produced the acoustic velocities. The arrival time of the one-way traveltime was picked when the signal exceeded a threshold voltage equal to 3% of the overall peak-to-peak amplitude of the first three half cycles of the signal. Uncertainty in velocity measurements for low-porosity (<30% of total porosity) cemented carbonates is within approximately 1%. Uncertainties in density and velocities measurements result in an error in bulk and shear modulus of approximately 5% and 3%, respectively. The ultrasonic measurements were conducted at five differential stresses (effective pressure) that ranged from 0 to 40 MPa (confining pressures: 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40 MPa). Pore pressure was kept at atmospheric pressure (0.1 Mpa). Laboratory measurements from this study are summarized in Table 1.

Figure 1. Location map of Urgonian limestone outcrops and sampling localities.

Table 1. Petrophysical laboratory measurements. Sampling localities (1: Cassis; 2: La Fare Massif; 3: Orgon quarry; 4: Font-Jouval) are reported in Figure 1.

Grain VP VP VP VP V S1 V S1 V S1 V S1 V S1 V S2 V S2 V S2 V S2 V S2 VP Poros- density Micrite (103 ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms volume ms ms ms Local- ity 2.5 Mpa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa 2.5 MPa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa 2.5 MPa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa % Sample ity (%) kgm3 )

Microporous grainstone petrophysics

B01 B02 B03 B04A B04B B05A B05B B06A B06B C01 C03 C06 C07 C08 C11 C12 C13b C14a C14b C19a C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25a C25b C26 COU13 COU14 D01 D02

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3

16.8 16.0 15.3 15.3 16.6 18.2 19.8 14.5 15.9 21.1 21.0 22.7 20.9 19.6 20.2 23.1 16.7 15.8 18.4 23.8 14.5 18.9 17.5 21.3 17.5 23.6 21.6 16.9 4.5 11.1 20.3 18.1

2.69 2.69 2.71 2.72 2.71 2.71 2.69 2.70 2.72 2.70 2.71 2.72 2.70 2.72 2.70 2.69 2.69 2.69 2.71 2.72 2.74 2.70 2.69 2.69 2.70 2.73 2.71 2.73 2.70 2.70 2.71 2.70

65.5 58.9 57.5 62.0 49.1 58.6 68.3 44.1 40.9 59.3 64.3 48.7 63.0 62.7 67.7 69.3 48.3 55.0 63.0 70.0 74.0 62.0 75.0 76.1 50.6 68.0 51.0 64.0 84.1 79.3 72.7 65.7

3610 3887 4014 4432 4242 4258 4373 3157 3535 3740 3451 3401 3481 3729 3804 3360 4193 4639 3982 3690 3906 4036 3761 4086 2803 3928 5757 4878 3009

3941 3997 4103 4452 4255 4267 4372 3588 3648 3819 3978 3673 3676 3892 3937 3739 4353 4666 4200 3285 3813 3978 4116 3803 4247 3129 3096 4036 5756 4930 3406 4004

4104 4054 4168 4504 4299 4298 4371 3753 3855 3907 4171 3789 3848 4043 3944 3827 4408 4773 4280 3589 4030 4065 4175 3831 4532 3347 3349 4229 5822 4997 3627 4207

4227 4091 4236 4546 4373 4328 4323 4007 4168 3950 4234 3929 3924 4159 3968 3888 4499 4757 4315 3986 4392 4164 4241 3846 4617 3597 3681 4444 5843 5014 3837 4298

4288 4108 4233 4577 4401 4358 4326 4286 4440 3929 4216 4027 3868 4199 3956 3865 4523 4806 4320 4018 4675 4206 4250 3846 4670 3744 3802 4565 5886 5027 4391

2024 2219 2328 2469 2376 2431 2406 1969 2186 2154 2126 1992 2130 2197 2270 1992 2336 2502 2290 2178 2299 2380 2212 2353 1734 2320 3012 2703 1768

2142 2261 2357 2512 2401 2430 2437 2120 2224 2223 2345 2128 2205 2247 2305 2078 2395 2524 2381 1997 2234 2331 2403 2239 2460 1879 1888 2364 3042 2744 1918 2300

2253 2310 2392 2545 2426 2446 2456 2208 2300 2251 2430 2202 2278 2342 2327 2143 2439 2562 2411 2124 2343 2368 2426 2261 2515 1987 2054 2443 3066 2764 2081 2363

2341 2334 2409 2568 2447 2470 2462 2340 2416 2259 2442 2232 2315 2395 2327 2198 2472 2560 2435 2305 2489 2403 2444 2267 2547 2095 2176 2516 3078 2779 2181 2392

2377 2326 2412 2574 2457 2471 2447 2461 2521 2237 2455 2176 2274 2385 2307 2240 2495 2564 2426 2358 2606 2416 2452 2258 2570 2153 2233 2565 3089 2787 2417

2032 2244 2333 2450 2399 2407 2465 1981 2060 2081 2001 2013 2066 2043 2281 2002 2384 2621 2365 2206 2300 2360 2207 2364 1768 2298 3012 2691 1748

2146 2287 2362 2498 2417 2420 2484 2138 2132 2159 2200 2124 2190 2149 2313 2103 2444 2593 2434 2051 2283 2337 2387 2240 2471 1917 1892 2355 3048 2715 1910 2283

2246 2317 2397 2542 2440 2439 2490 2228 2233 2183 2320 2189 2242 2239 2315 2206 2497 2597 2466 2117 2381 2369 2409 2256 2533 2012 2021 2446 3072 2739 2059 2358

2329 2336 2414 2561 2454 2463 2476 2346 2376 2207 2377 2236 2278 2290 2319 2235 2526 2615 2480 2246 2523 2405 2426 2262 2577 2106 2147 2524 3078 2753 2150 2408

2353 2340 2413 2567 2462 2468 2448 2461 2502 2166 2380 2149 2211 2292 2303 2230 2538 2617 2481 2324 2638 2421 2433 2255 2588 2159 2229 2569 3089 2757 2432 (continued)

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Table 1. (Continued)

Grain VP VP VP VP VP V S1 V S1 V S1 V S1 V S1 V S2 V S2 V S2 V S2 V S2 Poros- density Micrite (103 volume ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms Local- ity (%) kgm3 ) % 2.5 Mpa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa 2.5 MPa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa 2.5 MPa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa Sample ity

Fournier et al.

D03 D04 D05 D07 D09 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16 D17 D18 D20 D21 D22 D23 F01 F02 F03 F04 F05 F06 F07 F08 F09 F10 F11 F12 FJ02 FJ06 FJ07

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4

22.2 16.7 20.7 9.7 9.6 9.6 17.6 11.3 12.8 3.2 11.8 4.3 14.7 4.9 8.3 13.5 19.3 4.1 16.3 14.5 16.4 13.1 9.4 13.3 10.6 10.5 10.4 13.0 3.9 13.4 0.4 13.6 14.5

2.73 2.69 2.70 2.69 2.71 2.70 2.73 2.69 2.70 2.71 2.70 2.70 2.73 2.70 2.72 2.73 2.75 2.68 2.70 2.70 2.71 2.70 2.71 2.70 2.69 2.70 2.72 2.68 2.66 2.72 2.69 2.73 2.69

78.7 77.7 76.7 69.0 64.7 81.3 81.7 85.3 70.0 59.1 65.8 74.3 71.3 71.3 62.3 81.3 82.0 52.0 60.0 62.0 60.7 70.0 60.7 42.1 82.3 67.7 58.3 48.3 50.1 52.0 73.0 79.7 61.0

3577 3395 5089 4618 4411 5022 4690 5795 4898 5550 5522 5141 4648 5534 3396 4327 3774 3855 4695 3907 4681 4591 4704 5490 3796 6096 3995 4207

3724 4399 3677 5004 5223 4680 4449 5044 4708 5840 5019 5677 4209 5590 5220 4682 3791 5668 3509 4400 3801 3976 4762 4035 4749 4662 4762 4252 5504 3924 6162 4170 4234

3931 4451 5056 5183 4817 4477 5111 4766 5848 5062 5711 4245 5622 5245 4716 3893 5706 3760 4450 3874 4219 4934 4185 4858 4766 4838 4312 5599 4024 6210 4316 4262

4026 4562 3925 5175 5191 4910 4540 5121 4815 5801 5129 5805 4351 5655 5315 4777 4020 5768 4019 4527 4136 4470 5118 4369 4955 4874 4916 4472 5714 4282 6223 4521 4275

4603 5217 5248 5062 4653 5130 4844 5184 5865 4462 5690 5335 4802 4134 5813 4250 4648 4396 4684 5247 4552 5013 4912 4979 4631 5798 4487 4650 4339 2015 2251 2017 2803 2529 2487 2724 2593 2599 2912 2289 2962 2837 2620 2072 2967 2104 2386 2106 2175 2634 2352 2582 2578 2591 2933 2196 3240 2298 2389 2159 2370 2056 2747 2839 2595 2571 2774 2602 3095 2658 2999 2370 3015 2864 2642 2140 3002 2157 2437 2188 2249 2701 2418 2638 2616 2625 2306 2969 2249 3298 2385 2411 2239 2494 2147 2791 2848 2673 2605 2797 2640 3071 2712 3062 2455 3039 2888 2675 2211 3046 2261 2474 2247 2389 2736 2479 2691 2661 2676 2408 3019 2327 3237 2472 2424 2294 2557 2241 2843 2862 2752 2568 2817 2665 3072 2747 3075 2480 3058 2916 2697 2300 3077 2354 2507 2358 2508 2801 2547 2732 2703 2706 2502 3062 2416 3229 2537 2440 2033 2271 2022 2775 2557 2461 2744 2606 2645 2915 2239 2976 2835 2591 2009 2956 2136 2424 1984 2238 2628 2345 2594 2570 2578 2933 2218 3295 2310 2386 2164 2397 2047 2719 2848 2600 2504 2767 2632 3078 2732 3006 2349 3013 2858 2617 2152 2997 2180 2483 2118 2313 2697 2392 2638 2606 2625 2355 2974 2260 3338 2381 2409 2271 2482 2139 2781 2830 2665 2540 2800 2649 3021 2755 3049 2407 3029 2874 2647 2207 3046 2261 2506 2188 2435 2755 2466 2693 2663 2673 2438 3024 2321 3352 2472 2422 2329 2524 2238 2850 2853 2749 2551 2800 2667 3024 2798 3078 2481 3047 2901 2674 2327 3083 2364 2551 2307 2551 2816 2541 2732 2704 2714 2520 3072 2417 3291 2557 2437

2580 2849 2870 2801 2586 2830 2679 2797 3088 2510 3085 2923 2716 2355 3097 2437 2552 2457 2590 2849 2604 2760 2726 2737 2580 3100 2513 2584 2457

2575 2866 2864 2781 2546 2809 2685 2824 3102 2525 3059 2913 2687 2377 3102 2455 2584 2408 2619 2864 2607 2754 2723 2740 2599 3090 2499 2590 2453 (continued)

Table 1. (Continued)

Grain VP VP VP VP V S1 V S1 V S1 V S1 V S1 V S2 V S2 V S2 V S2 V S2 VP Poros- density Micrite (103 ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms ms volume ms ms ms Local- ity 2.5 Mpa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa 2.5 MPa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa 2.5 MPa 5 MPa 10 MPa 20 MPa 40 MPa % Sample ity (%) kgm3 ) 68.0 80.0 57.0 60.5 55.7 67.0 73.0 81.0 72.7 50.8 75.7 63.7 53.8 72.0 85.0 3624 3910 4974 4704 3247 3847 3344 4398 4994 4105 4833 4677 5117 6178 3656 3958 5070 4017 4733 3406 4012 3480 4550 5078 4168 4887 4756 5181 6212 3714 3974 5204 4050 4793 3571 4096 3659 4688 5152 4324 4951 4874 5201 6222 3813 3997 5248 4118 4900 3732 4177 3781 4792 5175 4479 4999 4973 5245 6282 3917 4063 5291 4243 5011 4222 3843 4831 5224 4658 5031 5048 5276 2117 2213 2713 2201 2549 1826 2190 1934 2474 2638 2275 2664 2597 2781 2140 2233 2762 2249 2607 1921 2292 2021 2540 2749 2325 2698 2649 2803 2169 2254 2815 2267 2633 2003 2339 2107 2606 2792 2401 2737 2696 2828 3231 2208 2258 2845 2298 2669 2089 2376 2166 2642 2819 2466 2767 2743 2847 3244 2257 2281 2862 2350 2701 2398 2208 2659 2843 2557 2779 2773 2864 2114 2203 2705 2213 2571 1868 2250 1931 2458 2645 2298 2647 2588 2775 2135 2231 2758 2244 2616 1906 2308 1993 2531 2749 2348 2685 2644 2787 2158 2246 2810 2278 2638 2012 2352 2094 2592 2799 2406 2724 2694 2812 2206 2258 2854 2318 2689 2114 2387 2157 2632 2821 2472 2753 2743 2827 2249 2267 2880 2356 2721 2406 2194 2651 2843 2537 2767 2773 2849

FJ09 FJ12 FJ13 FJ16 FJ17 FJ23 O12 O74 RR01 RR05 RR06 RR07A RR07B RR07C S02

4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1

18.9 15.9 8.4 20.3 13.0 25.5 17.3 20.9 12.8 10.7 12.0 8.4 10.8 10.0 0.6

2.70 2.71 2.71 2.73 2.71 2.70 2.71 2.71 2.71 2.70 2.69 2.70 2.71 2.70 2.69

Microporous grainstone petrophysics

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Fournier et al.

molluscs (Samankassou et al., 2005). Nearly the whole intergranular and intraskeletal space is filled with calcitic cements (Figure 2d). Thin section study under polarized-light microscopy provides the The most common cement fabrics encountered in the studied samsedimentologic and petrographic framework for this study. Blue ples include (1) isopacheous rim of fibrous to prismatic cements epoxy-stained thin sections were prepared from all of the 80 carboaround grains, (2) blocky calcite cements, and (3) syntaxial cements nate samples used for the petrophysical laboratory measurements. around echinoderm fragments. SEM observations revealed that pore All thin sections were point-counted on the basis of 400 points to space consisted almost exclusively of intercrystalline microporosity estimate the proportion of micrite, and microsparite/sparite. After between calcitic micrite crystals (Figure 3a). Minor intercrystalline van der Plas and Tobi (1965), for a 400 points counting, the halfmicroporosity is observed between sparry calcite crystals in blocky width of uncertainty on percentage estimation is less than 5%, within cements (Figure 3a and 3b). two-sided 95% confidence bounds. Considering the relatively high Four micrite microfabrics were defined in the selected samples homogeneity of the studied rocks compared to the sample size, the from the Urgonian limestone, on the basis of the crystal shape, sortrelative abundance of micrite evaluated by point-counting is assumed ing, and contacts by using Loreaus terminology (Loreau, 1972): (1) to reflect the actual composition of the whole plug sample, within the Microfabric 1 (MF1): subhedral mosaic micrite, (2) Microfabric 2 analytical uncertainty bounds. Point-counting allowed to estimate (MF2): serrate subhedral/euhedral micrite (3) Microfabric 3 the micritic volume fraction f m for all samples. (MF3): punctic to serrate subhedral/euhedral micrite, showing Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed on 14 goldsubrounded crystals with subhedral/euhedral overgrowths, and coated samples using a PHILIPS XL30 ESEM with a current set at (4) Microfabric 4 (MF4): punctic, loosely packed, and locally 20kV. These observations made it possible to characterize the micoalescent subrounded micrite. crite morphology and the micropore network structure. Micropores The MF1 consists of a dense mosaic of small subhedral crystals are defined by pores with diameter lower than 10 microns (Cantrell (12 m) of low magnesium calcite (LMC) with dominantly serrate and Hagerty, 1999). contacts (Figure 4a). The enfacial junctions between crystals, the dominance of subhedral crystal morphologies and serrate contacts MICROFABRICS OF THE URGONIAN compared to the relative scarcity of anhedral morphologies and coalescent contacts, suggest that this microfabric results more from MICROPOROUS GRAINSTONES the cementation than from the compaction of a micritic precursor. Micrite characterization In sample S2, the estimated average micrite microporosity is low (0.7%). The carbonate grainstone samples used in this study are wellIn MF2, micritic LMC crystals are subhedral to euhedral, poorly sorted and medium to very-coarse grained (Figure 2). More than sorted, with mainly serrate contacts and locally punctic contacts 50% of the grain population consists of rounded micritic peloids (Figure 4b). This microfabric is interpreted to result from moderate (Figure 2a, 2b, and 2c). Most of these peloids probably represent cementation of a micrite precursor. Serrate subhedral micrites disbroken and micritized bioclasts, such as foraminifers, red algae, and play a moderate residual porosity, ranging from 5.3 to 16% in samples observed under SEM. The MF3 is characterized by poorly sorted, dominantly subhedral to euhedral LMC crystals with punctic to serrate contact (Figure 4c, 4e). This microfabric commonly exhibits small rounded crystals (< 2 m) surrounded by larger euhedral overgrowth (up to 5 m), thus suggesting dissolution-reprecipitation by Ostwald ripening process (Baronnet, 1982; Morse and Casey, 1988). In carbonates of homogeneous mineralogical composition, the smallest crystals are the most unstable and are dissolved, thus leading to rounded-shaped micrites, in favor of euhedral/ subhedral overgrowths of larger crystal. In our data set, the diagenetic environment and the timing of occurrence of calcite overgrowths are poorly constrained. Such diagenetic feature has been reported in lacustrine micrites from the Figure 2. Thin-section photomicrographs, under polarized-light of typical microporous Madrid basin (Volery et al., 2010a; 2010b) and grainstones from the Urgonian limestone: (a) sample C20 from La Fare: well-sorted was interpreted as resulting from fluctuating mecoarse-grained grainstone dominantly composed of dark micritic grains (p: peloids, teoric phreatic lenses. In samples observed under m: miliolids) and sparitic grains (s) with thick micritic envelope (arrow); (b) sample D01 from Le Dfens quarry: medium-coarse-grained grainstone with dark micritic SEM, MF3 micrites display porosity values rangrains (p: peloids, t: textularids); (c) sample FJ23 from Font-Jouval: highly porous fine ging from 14 to 26%. to medium-grained peloidal; (d) sample C2 from La Fare: coarse-grained grainstone The MF4 consists of fine-grained (<1 m), with peloids (p), echinoid fragment (ech.) and sparitic/microsparitic grains with micrite well-sorted LMC subrounded crystals with puncenvelope (me); grains are rimmed by an isopacheous prismatic cement (ir) whereas remnant intergranular space is filled by blocky sparry calcite (bs). tic contacts (Figure 4d). MF4 micrites are highly

Petrographic analysis on thin sections and SEM

Microporous grainstone petrophysics porous (up to 41% in the samples observed under SEM), loosely packed, and locally coalescent. As evidenced in microporous carbonate reservoirs from the Middle East (Lambert et al., 2006) and in mixed carbonate-siliciclastics from Provence (Fournier and Borgomano, 2009), the rounded shape of these micrites probably results from dissolution processes. The various stages of edge roundness in MF4 microfabric, from sharp-edged to well-rounded crystals, suggest that rounded micrites have subhedral to euhedral precursors. The coalescent aggregates of rounded crystals are interpreted to result from reprecipitation of the dissolved carbonates around the crystal junction (Figure 4f). The nature and origin of the fluids responsible of the leaching in MF4 micrites have not been investigated. As suggested in Figure 5a, a general trend of increasing porosity is observed from tight MF1 microfabric to highly porous MF4 microfabric. The petrographic observations under SEM indicate that the intragranular micrite did not undergo significant mechanical and chemical compaction. Changes in intragranular micrite porosity may be related to cementation and leaching processes (Figure 5b). The low compaction of intragranular micrite may be due to the formation of early marine or shallow burial cements, which may have prevented the intragranular micrite from later compaction. Indeed, micritized allochems do not display any mechanical compaction features such as grain deformation, sutured and concavo-convex grain contacts. In addition, as already reported in lacustrine and marine micrites (Volery et al., 2010a; 2010b), the formation of calcite overgrowth in porous micrite during early diagenesis could have created a rigid framework that could have reduced the effects of compaction.

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Figure 3. (a) SEM photomicrograph of a polish thin-sectionned sample showing rounded peloidal grains with high intercrystalline microporosity (black) between micrite crystals (white); intergranular space is filled with blocky sparry calcite exhibiting rare and sparse intercrystalline pores; (b) SEM photomicrograph of a micritic grain boundary: microporous micrite (M) is rimmed by a thin layer of microspar crystals (MS) and intergranular space is filled with coarse sparry calcite cements (S); pore space in sparite and microsparite is restricted to very flat, crack-like pores, at the contact between crystals.

ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF MICROPOROUS CARBONATES Effect of effective pressure and porosity on V P , V S and V P V S
In the low-effective-pressure range (2.5 10 MPa), most samples show a rapid, nonlinear increase in P-wave velocity (Figure 6a), which could be attributed to closing of microcracks (Gardner et al., 1974; Vernik, 1994). At higher effective pressures, most of the samples exhibit almost no pressure dependence on the P-wave velocity (lower than 6 m:s1 :MPa1 ), indicating that at effective pressures greater than 10 20 MPa, most of the microcracks are closed. As illustrated by Figure 6c and 6d, the rate of velocity increase with increasing effective pressure is not correlated with porosity or with micrite or sparite/microsparite content. This implies that the contacts between the micrite crystals (Figure 3) do not behave elastically like

Figure 4. SEM photomicrographs of the main micrite microfabrics of the micritic grains from the Urgonian limestone : (a) Microfabric 1 (MF1): fine grained (12 m), tight anhedral compact micrite (sample S2: measured sample porosity 0.6%, estimated micrite porosity 0.7%); (b) Microfabric 2 (MF2): serrate subhedral micrite (sample COU13: measured sample porosity 4.4%, estimated micrite porosity 5.3%); (c) Microfabric 3 (MF3): poorly sorted, punctic to serrate micrite, showing subrounded crystals (white arrow) with euhedral overgrowths (black arrow) (sample D07: measured sample porosity 9.7%, estimated micrite porosity 14%); (d) Microfabric 4 (MF4): fine grained (<1 m) punctic, loosely packed and locally coalescent subrounded micrite (sample FJ23: measured sample porosity 25.5%, estimated micrite porosity 38%); (e) close-up on the MF3 microfabric (Figure 4c) showing a euhedral calcite overgrowth (black arrow) around a rounded crystal (white arrow); (f) example of coalescent aggregates of subrounded micrite commonly found in MF4 microfabric.

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Fournier et al. microcracks. Cracklike behavior in these samples may be due to stress relief and cooling related to natural uplift and erosion, or artifacts from core and plug recovery (Vernik, 1997). Importantly, at higher effective stresses, these samples do not behave like a cracked medium (Smith et al., 2009). As opposed to the experiments by Anselmetti and Eberli (1993) on carbonate samples from the Bahamas and Maiella (south Italy), we did not observe a decrease in velocity with increasing pressure in Urgonian limestone samples, thus suggesting that stress-induced cracking and fracturing did not occur during our experiments. As documented in Upper Cretaceous carbonates from Provence (Fournier and Borgomano, 2009), values of V P V S show almost no change with increases in effective stress (Figure 6b). P- and S-wave velocities display a steep decrease with increasing porosity from 0% to 15% and a more gentle decrease above 15% (Figure 7). Such a nonlinear velocity-porosity transform is common in carbonate rocks (Anselmetti and Eberli, 1993). Figure 8 displays the linear trend of the P-wave velocity versus S-wave velocity transform and the changes in V P V S ratios as a function of porosity. In spite of the very few papers documenting the porosity dependency of V P V S ratios for dry carbonates, a similar decreasing linear trend with increasing porosity has been evidenced by Assefa et al. (2003) in oolitic and skeletal grainstones and packstones, and by Rgen et al. (2005) in North Sea chalks.

Estimates of the dry micrite elastic moduli

Figure 5. (a) Relationship between grain micrite microfabric and micritic grain microporosity for the samples analyzed under SEM; (b) scenario of diagenetic evolution of the micritic grains showing the genetic relationship between the micrite microfabrics. The petrographic observations discussed above support modeling the carbonate rocks used in this study as a mixture of microporous calcitic micrite, and nonporous calcitic microsparite and sparite. The microporous micrite is the dominant constituent of the grains (peloids, micritized bioclasts) and can as well be found forming micrite rims on sparitized bioclasts. The microsparry and sparry calcite is found in the form of equigranular cements filling intergranular pore space and in the form of recrystallized bioclasts resulting from aragonite to calcite transformation. As indicated by SEM observations, the porosity in intergranular cements and recrystallized bioclasts is assumed to be negligible. The micrite porosity m can be therefore estimated as

; fm

(1)

Figure 6. (a) Compressional-wave velocity (V P ) versus effective pressure; (b) velocity ratio (V P V S ) versus effective pressure; (c) compressional-wave velocity increment ratio (between 2.5 and 40Mpa effective pressure) versus total sample porosity; (d) compressional-wave velocity increment ratio (between 2.5 and 40 Mpa effective pressure) versusmicrosparite sparite volume content.

where is the total porosity of the sample and f m the micrite volume fraction. Equation 1 is valid only for samples devoid of macropores such as moldic, intergranular, or intraskeletal pores. Effective properties of a mixture of distinct elastic media cannot be predicted exactly, but upper and lower bounds can be calculated for a given composition. The bounds that define the narrowest range of possible values, independently of the geometry of the constituents, are the HS bounds (Hashin and Shtrikman, 1963). We consider the Urgonian grainstones as a two-constituent medium, made of microporous

Microporous grainstone petrophysics calcitic micrite and nonporous mosacs of calcite sparite and microsparite. The upper bounds K HS and HS and the lower bounds K HS and HS for the dry bulk and shear moduli, respectively are given in Appendix A. Ranges of dry bulk and shear moduli of the microporous micrite (K micrite , micrite ) are estimated by resolving the inequalities

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K HS K micrite < K measured < K HS K micrite ; HS K micrite ; micrite < measured < HS K micrite ; micrite (2)

where K HS , K HS and HS , HS are the lower and upper HS bounds for the bulk and shear moduli of the mixture, respectively; and K measured and measured are the bulk and shear modulus calculated from measured densities and P- and S-wave velocities, respectively. This approach applies if each constituent is isotropic, linear elastic; and the rock is isotropic, linear, and elastic. This implies that (1) all the pore volume is located within the micrite fraction, and (2) the spatial distribution of the pore space is homogeneous within the micrite fraction. The volumetric fraction of each constituent is reported in Table 1. The elastic moduli of the calcite spar and microspar aggregates are assumed to be close to the moduli of the mineral, independently of the aggregate geometry. The computed ranges of microporous grain elastic moduli, derived from equation 2 are plotted in Figure 9 as a function of micritic grain microporosity. In contrast to the results of Fournier and Borgomano (2009) in Upper Cretaceous mixed carbonatesiliciclastic rocks from Provence, the decrease in bulk and shear moduli with increasing porosity does not display a significant break and a critical porosity behavior is not evidenced.

Figure 8. (a) Compressional-wave velocity (V P ) versus shear-wave velocity (V S ); (b) velocity ratio (V P V S ) versus total sample porosity. Measurements are performed at 20 MPa effective pressure.

EQUIVALENT ELASTIC MEDIUM MODELING OF URGONIAN MICROPOROUS CEMENTED GRAINSTONES

We propose to model microporous grainstones as a composite material with two end-member constituents: (1) A pure calcite host (spary calcite cements and grains) assumed to be nonporous, and (2) porous spherical inclusions (micritic grains). Both constituents are assumed to be isotropic, linear, and elastic. In this model, all the

Figure 7. Compressional-wave velocity (V P ) and shear-wave velocity (V S ) measured at 20 MPa effective pressure as a function of total sample porosity.

Figure 9. Crossplot of estimated ranges of micrite bulk (a) and shear (b) modulus versus average micrite microporosity. Bars represent the possible range of micrite moduli honoring the inequalities (equation 2): they integrate the uncertainty in mineralogic composition and bulk moduli of analyzed samples at 20 MPa.

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Fournier et al. treats pores and host symmetrically (Appendix C). In both approaches, models were computed for various pore aspect ratios. Elastic moduli porosity curves derived from DEM and SC modeling are plotted in Figure 9 for aspect ratios ranging from 0.05 to 0.3. The comparison with elastic moduli estimates derived from equation 2 (Figure 9) indicates that, in most of the measured samples, the micritic grains are elastically equivalent to idealized calcitic media with spheroidal pore inclusions of aspect ratios ranging from 0.1 to 0.2, at least from 0 to 30% porosity.

pore space is assumed to be located within the spherical micrite inclusion. To calculate the elastic moduli K m and m of the inclusions (microporous micritic grains), the spherical inclusion model (SIM) was tested (Figure 10).

Effective properties of dry micritic grains: Spheroidal inclusion model

Microporous micritic grains are modeled as a pure calcite host (bulk modulus K c 71 GPa and shear modulus c 30 GPa) containing oblate spheroidal pores (bulk and shear moduli are set to zero). Effective property computations of the microporous grains were performed using two approaches: (1) the differential effective medium (DEM) theory (Norris, 1985) that assumes isolated pores set within a continuous host material (Appendix B) and (2) the self-consistent (SC) approximation (Berryman, 1980) that

Effective properties of the dry composite rock

The effective bulk and shear moduli K and , of the dry composite rock, consisting of microporous grains embedded within a homogeneous nonporous calcitic host (bulk modulus K c 71 GPa and shear modulus c 31 GPa), are estimated using three different methods: (1) the HS lower (HS) and upper (HS) bounds (Appendix A; Hashin and Shtrikman, 1963), (2) the differential effective medium (DEM) theory (Appendix B; Norris, 1985), and (3) the SC approximation (Appendix C; Berryman, 1980). For HS bounds, no grain geometry is assumed, as it is just a mixture of two end-member components. In DEM and SC approaches, grains are treated as spherical inclusions. The DEM models are computed by resolving the coupled system of equation (Appendix B), in which geometric factors P and Q are those of spherical inclusions. In the SC approach, elastic moduli are found by solving iteratively the equations presented in Appendix C and by using the geometric factors P and Q given in Appendix B. Eight distinct types of effective property models are therefore computed according to the grain property and the whole-rock property modeling method (Table 2). Figures 11 and 12 display the HS, DEM, and SC models of the composite rock for the two distinct grain property modeling approaches (DEM and SC). Results are plotted for various micritic grain concentrations and for various micropore aspect ratios. The models exhibit the following features (Figures 11 and 12):

At low-porosity values (<10%), elastic moduli-porosity transforms are controlled by the pore aspect ratio, and are independent of the micritic grain concentration and of the modeling approach. Figure 10. Summary of the methodology used for modeling the At higher porosity values (>20%), elastic moduli computed elastic properties of equivalent elastic media for microporous ceusing DEM-DEM, DEM-HS, SC-DEM and SC-HS mented grainstones. methods reach a plateau whose value depends on the micritic grain concentration only and elastic moduli computed using DEM-SC, DEMTable 2. Classification of effective property models according to the grain HS, SC-SC, and SC-HS tend to zero. property and the whole-rock property modeling method. Whole-rock modelling method DEM using spherical inclusion Grainproperty method DEM using spheroidal inclusion SC using spheroidal inclusion DEM-DEM SC-DEM SC using spherical inclusion DEM-SC SC-SC Upper HS bound DEM-HS+ SC-HS+ Lower HS bound DEM-HS SC-HS

Equivalent elastic models for microporous cemented grainstones

The effective property models computed after HS, DEM and SC methods are compared with laboratory measurements performed on 85 microporous cemented grainstone samples. Ruiz and Dvorkin (2010) demonstrated that idealized elastic models, such as DEM, could be predictive for a certain type of rock, in spite of the unrealistic spheroidal shape assumed by these models.

Microporous grainstone petrophysics

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Figure 11. Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) bounds, DEM and SC models of a composite rock made of spherical inclusions of porous inclusions. The elastic moduli of the porous inclusions are computed using the DEM theory applied for a SIM. Results are plotted for various micritic grain concentrations and for various micropore aspect ratio.

Figure 12. Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) bounds, DEM and SC models of a composite rock made of spherical inclusions of porous inclusions. The elastic moduli of the porous inclusions are computed using the (SC) approximation applied for a SIM. Results are plotted for various micritic grain concentrations and for various micropore aspect ratio.

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Fournier et al. ium leads to the following results: (1) in DEM-DEM and SC-DEM models, predicted V P values are underestimated for high V S values and for micritic grain concentrations higher than 40%, (2) SC-SC models provide good V P predictions for high micritic grain concentrations and overestimated values at lower concentrations, and (3) DEM-SC models match the whole data set at any micritic grain concentrations and for pore aspect ratios averaging 0.15. As a consequence, the best equivalent elastic model for the Urgonian microporous cemented grainstones can be defined as follows: (1) a composite rock made of spherical inclusions (microporous grains) embedded within a homogeneous calcitic host and whose elastic properties are modeled using the DEM method; and (2) microporous grains made of spheroidal pores of constant aspect ratio (averaging 0.15) set within a homogeneous calcitic host, and whose elastic properties are computed using the SC method. In addition, this model predicts a decrease in V P V S ratio with increasing

Figures 11 and 12 show that for microporous grain properties computed using DEM and SC approaches, HS bounds, DEM and SC models of the composite rock match the whole data set, when the micropore aspect ratio is set at 0.15. In Figure 13a and 13b, the measured P- and S-wave velocities are compared with values derived from DEM models of a composite rock comprising 60% of microporous inclusions. Results show that for a given porosity, the equivalent micropore aspect ratios derived from V P and V S measurements are slightly lower for DEM-DEM models compared to those derived from DEM-SC models. In addition, in DEMDEM models, aspect ratios derived from V P values are slightly higher than those derived from V S values. In contrast, aspect ratios derived from V P and V S values are consistent. The choice of the best equivalent elastic medium depends on the consistency between V P and V S predictions for a given microporous grain concentration and a given equivalent micropore aspect ratio. In Figure 14, the comparison between the measured V S V S transforms and the various numerical models of equivalent elastic med-

Figure 13. (a) and (b) Models of DEM-DEM and DEM-SC of compressionnal-wave and shear-wave velocity (V P and V S ), respectively, as a function of porosity, (b) DEM-DEM and DEM-SC models of velocity ratio (V P V S ) as a function of porosity. Laboratory velocity measurements at 20 MPa effective pressure are reported.

Figure 14. Models of DEM-DEM, SC-DEM, DEM-SC, and SCSC of compressional-wave velocity (V P ) versus shear-wave velocity (V S ) for various pore aspect ratios and for 40% (a) and 70% (b) micritic grain concentrations.

Microporous grainstone petrophysics porosity, as observed in measured samples (Figure 13c). The equivalent pore-aspect ratios derived from matching laboratory measurements with theoretical models are plotted in Figure 15. When using DEM-SC models (Figure 15a), equivalent pore aspect ratios derived from bulk modulus matching are consistent with the values derived from shear moduli. Values range mainly between 0.12 and 0.20 and display no significant change with porosity, except few values at grain porosities higher than 30%. In contrast, significant gaps are observed between aspect ratio values derived from bulk and shear modulus models using SC-DEM method (Figure 15b).

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DISCUSSION: EQUIVALENT ASPECT RATIO (EPAR) AS A DIAGENETIC INDEX IN MICROPOROUS CARBONATE RESERVOIRS?
In Urgonian micritic grains, intercrystalline micropores exhibit a complex geometry and the question arises on the applicability and significance of modeling results for perfect spheroidal or ellipsoidal shapes. Tsukrov and Kachanov (1993) demonstrated that elongated rectangular-type pores could be replaced by ellipsoids for modeling effective moduli. The accuracy of the method increases with the elongation of pores and with the randomness of pore orientation. However, as mentioned by Kachanov (1999), pores with concave shapes cannot be replaced by ellipsoids for accurately modeling the effective properties of the rock. In turn, rugosity of pore boundaries, sharpness of corner points and noncircularity of planar cracks have minor effect on overall elastic properties (Kachanov and Sevostianov, 2005). In addition, Ruiz and Dvorkin (2009; 2010) demonstrated that DEM models of composite media with spheroidal inclusions may match experimental velocity data, although actual pores are not inclusions and do not exhibit spheroidal shapes. They found that the required aspect ratio to match data in competent sand, shale, and calcite-quartz mixture is almost constant with values averaging 0.13 (Ruiz and Dvorkin, 2010). In the present database, we show that the elastic behavior of Urgonian microporous grainstones is equivalent to that of a cemented pack of microporous spherical grains: the micropores have an aspect ratio averaging 0.15. It is important to recognize that the aspect ratio used in these computations should be considered only as a fitting parameter but should not be regarded as an estimate of the actual pore shape. As in most of the carbonate rocks, diagenetic processes largely control the pore network structure in microporous Urgonian grainstones. The earlier identified stage of micrite transformation within grains is the dissolution of an initial micrite of undetermined mineralogy that nourished overgrowths around the most stable low-Mg calcite crystals (Volery et al., 2010a). This phase led to the formation of subhedral/euhedral micrites (MF3) microfabric. Later cementation processes dominantly caused porosity destruction in micrite, with a very minor influence of mechanical compaction, thus leading to the low-to-moderate porosity microfabric MF2 and to the tight microfabric MF1. After DEM-SC modeling, the diagenetic and pore network transformations from MF3 to MF1 microfabrics occurred at almost constant equivalent pore aspect ratios, averaging 0.15 (Figure 15a). At higher grain porosities (>30%), equivalent aspect ratios display a scattered pattern with values ranging from 0.15 to 0.27. This change in equivalent aspect ratio pattern results from the occurrence of the

MF4 microfabric related to porosity enhancement by micrite crystal leaching. The relationship between elastic properties and micrite-scale diagenetic transformations was investigated by Fournier and Borgomano (2009) in Upper Cretaceous microporous carbonates from Provence. In this particular case, intergranular and intragranular tight micrites exhibit anhedral compact microfabric interpreted as a result of cementation and compaction processes. The porosity reduction and the steep increase in elastic moduli with decreasing porosity was interpreted in this case as resulting from compaction and cementation of an initial well-sorted euhedral micrite. Extraction of micrite elastic moduli using HS bounds provides estimates of equivalent pore aspect ratio, according to DEM or SC schemes (Figure 16a). The steep linear increase in bulk modulus with decreasing porosity during compaction processes resulted in a significant increase (from 0.05 to 0.20.3) in equivalent micropore aspect ratio. As a consequence, the use of the equivalent pore aspect ratio (EPAR) approach allows us to define two main categories of diagenetic transformations with regards to changes in elastic properties in microporous micritic media: (1) EPAR-preserving transformations, such as euhedral (MF3) to mosaic micrite (MF1), related to micropore occlusion by cementation processes; and (2) non-EPAR-preserving transformations, such as euhedral to anhedral compact micrite by compaction processes, or euhedral (MF3) to subrounded micrite (MF4) by leaching processes.

Figure 15. Equivalent pore aspect ratios for Urgonian microporous cemented grainstones as a function of micritic grain microporosity using (a) DEM-SC model and (b) SC-DEM model. Error bars integrate the uncertainties in laboratory measurements.

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Fournier et al. microporous carbonate reservoirs. The computation of elastic property models using DEM or SC theory allows the equivalent elastic medium for the microporous elastic medium and for the whole carbonate rock to be defined. A major achievement of the petrographical and petrophysical analysis of the Urgonian limestone is the establishment of the link between equivalent elastic media and micrite diagenetic pattern in microporous carbonates. In other words, in spite of the unrealistic structure of the equivalent elastic media compared to the petrographic observations of micrite, the fitting parameters derived from them, such as the equivalent pore aspect ratio (EPAR) can be used as index for diagenetic evolution pattern in microporous micrites. Such an approach could be used practically in subsurface studies after diagenetic and petrophysical calibration to (1) detect the diagenetic evolution patterns of microporous carbonate reservoirs, and (2) predict V S from V P , by using sonic and neutron-porosity logs in uncored intervals. Finally, critical porosity concepts are not applicable to all micrites. Such concepts could provide correct estimations of micrite elastic moduli only in specific diagenetic settings.

APPENDIX A HASHIN-SHTRIKMAN BOUNDS

The exact prediction of the effective elastic moduli of a mixture of various constituents requires the input of (1) the volume fraction of each phase, (2) the bulk and shear moduli of each phase, and (3) the spatial architecture of the mixture. If the spatial architecture of the mixture is unknown, the effective elastic moduli can be approximated by lower and upper bounds. The HS lower and upper bounds (Hashin and Shtrikman, 1963) provide the narrowest possible range of elastic moduli when geometrical parameters of the mixture are unknown:

Figure 16. (a) Trends of micrite bulk modulus changes with micrite porosity as a result of diagenetic processes and microtexture. Urgonian intragranular micrite is compared with Upper Cretaceous micrite from La Ciotat wells (after Fournier and Borgomano, 2009). SIM models are reported for various aspect ratios (dotted lines). In Urgonian grainstones, the changes in micrite bulk modulus with porosity for micrite porosity values lower than 25% are consistent with diagenetic transformations at constant aspect ratio (around 0.10.2. In contrast, in La Ciotat micrites, the steep linear increase in bulk modulus with decreasing porosity is consistent with a significant increase (from 0.05 to 0.20.3) in micropore aspect ratio. (b) Theoretical micrite bulk modulus versus micrite porosity in the hypothesis of a critical porosity behavior shows that comparison with SIM models indicates that a linear decrease in bulk modulus with increasing porosity should be related to a decrease in micropore aspect ratio. In addition, the study of the Urgonian (intragranular) micrite elastic properties shows that the critical porosity model, proposed by Fournier and Borgomano (2009) for Upper Cretaceous (interand intragranular) micrites from the Upper Cretaceous of Provence, should not be generalized to all types of microporous micritic media. Indeed, the application of the critical porosity concept to micrites required the combination of two diagenetic conditions: (1) a very soft initial micrite (i.e., with very low elastic moduli) is required and (2) the diagenetic processes of porosity destruction should be combined with an increase in equivalent micropore aspect ratio (non-EPAR-preserving transformation), as illustrated in Figure 16b.

K HS K c K

fm 4 1 1 m K c 1f m K c 3c 1f m 4 1 1 c K m f m K m 3m

K HS K m K
and

(A-1)

8 fm > HS c > 21f m K c 2c < m c 1 4 > K HS > : m

1f m 2f K 2 c m 1 m m 4 m
5c K c c 3 5m K m m 3

(A-2)

where K HS and K HS , respectively, are lower and upper HS bounds for bulk modulus; HS and HS , respectively, are lower and upper HS bounds for shear modulus; K c and c , respectively, are bulk and shear moduli for pure calcite; K m , m , respectively, are bulk and shear moduli for microporous micritic grains; and f m is the micritic grain volume fraction.

APPENDIX B DEM THEORY

The DEM theory models the effective elastic moduli of twophase composites by adding infinitesimal quantities of inclusions to the host phase (Cleary et al., 1980; Norris, 1985; Zimmerman, 1991). In this theory, the effective bulk and shear moduli of the composite, K y and y, respectively, are governed by a coupled system of ordinary differential equations (Mavko et al., 1998)

CONCLUSIONS
The diagenetic characterization of micritic media is a major issue for the determination of elastic moduli-porosity transforms in

Microporous grainstone petrophysics

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h K n1 K i Pni 1Kh Pn P 1P i h i n n h

1 y

d K y PK 2 K y dy d 1 y y Q2 y; dy

(B-1)

n1 i Qni 1hhQn Q 1Q
n n

(C-3)

with initial conditions K 0 K 1 and 0 1 ; where K 1 , 1 bulk and shear moduli of the initial host material; respectively; K2, 2 bulk and shear moduli of the inclusion; respectively; y concentration of the inclusions. The coefficients P and Q depend upon the shape of the inclusion and upon the elastic moduli of the host and inclusion phases. For ellipsoidal inclusions of a given aspect ratio , P and Q are given by (Wu, 1966)

REFERENCES
Ahr, W. M., 1989, Early diagenetic microporosity in the cotton valley limestone of east Texas: Sedimentary Geology, 63, 275292, doi: 10.1016/ 0037-0738(89)90136-X. Anselmetti, F. S., and G. P. Eberli, 1993, Controls on sonic velocity in carbonates: Pure and Applied Geophysics, 141, 287323, doi: 10.1007/ BF00998333. Assefa, S., C. McCann, and J. Sothcott, 2003, Velocities of compressional and shear waves in limestones: Geophysical prospecting, 51, 113, doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2478.2003.00349.x. Baechle, G. T., A. Colpaert, G. P. Eberli, and R. J. Weger, 2008, Effects of microporosity on sonic velocity in carbonate rocks: The Leading Edge, 27, 10121018, doi: 10.1190/1.2967554. Baronnet, A., 1982, Ostwald ripening in solution The case of calcite and mica: Estudios Geologicos, 38, 185198. Berryman, J. G., 1980, Long-wavelength propagation in composite elastic media II. Ellipsoidal inclusions: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 68, 18091831, doi: 10.1121/1.385172. Berryman, J. G., 1995, Mixture theories for rock properties, in T. J. Ahrens, ed., Handbook of physical constants: AGU, 205228. Budd, D. A., 1989, Micro-rhombic calcite and microporosity in limestones: A geochemical study of the lower cretaceous thamama group, U.A.E.: Sedimentary Geology, 63, no. 34, 293311, doi: 10.1016/0037-0738 (89)90137-1. Budiansky, B., 1965, On the elastic moduli of some heterogeneous materials: Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 13, 223227, doi: 10.1016/0022-5096(65)90011-6. Cantrell, D. L., and R. M. Hagerty, 1999, Microporosity in Arab formation carbonates, Saudi Arabia: GeoArabia, 4, no. 2, 129154. Clark, V. A., B. R. Tittman, and T. W. Spencer, 1980, Effects of volatiles on attenuation and velocity in sedimentary rocks: Journal of Geophysical Research, 85, 51905198, doi: 10.1029/JB085iB10p05190. Cleary, M. P., I. W. Chen, and S. M. Lee, 1980, Self-consistent techniques for heterogeneous media: Journal of the Engineering Mechanics Division, American Society of Civil Engineers, 106, 861887. Duffaut, A., and M. Landr, 2007, V P V S ratio versus differential stress and rock consolidation A comparison between rock models and time-lapse AVO data: Geophysics, 72, no. 5, C81C94, doi: 10.1190/1.2752175. Eberli, G. P., B. Baechle, F. Anselmetti, and M. Incze, 2003, Factors controlling elastic properties in carbonate sediments and rocks: The Leading Edge, 22, 654660, doi: 10.1190/1.1599691. Fournier, F., and J. Borgomano, 2009, Critical porosity and elastic properties of microporous mixed carbonate-siliciclastic rocks: Geophysics, 74, no. 2, 93109, doi: 10.1190/1.3043727. Gardner, G. H. F., L. W. Gardner, and R. W. Gregory, 1974, Formation velocity and density: The diagnostic basis for stratigraphic traps: Geophysics, 39, 770780, doi: 10.1190/1.1440465. Grammer, G. M., P. M. Harris, and G. P. Eberli, 2004, Integration of outcrop and modern analogs in reservoir modeling: Overview with examples from the Bahamas, in G. M. Grammer, P. M. Harris, and G. P. Eberli, eds., Integration of Outcrop and Modern Analogs in Reservoir Modeling: AAPG Memoir, 80, 122. Hashin, Z., and S. Shtrikman, 1963, A variational approach to the elastic behaviour of multiphase materials: Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 11, 127140, doi: 10.1016/0022-5096(63)90060-7. Kachanov, M., 1999, Solids with cracks and non-spherical pores: Proper parameters of defect density and effective elastic properties: International Journal of Fracture, 97, 132, doi: 10.1023/A:1018345702490. Kachanov, M., and I. Sevostianov, 2005, On quantitative characterization of microstuctures and effective properties: International Journal of Solids and Structures, 42, 309336, doi: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2004.06.016. Kaldi, J., 1989, Diagenetic microporosity (chalky porosity), Middle Devonian Kee Scarp Reef Complex, Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, Canada: Sedimentary Geology, 63, 241252, doi: 10.1016/0037-0738 (89)90134-6. Kenter, J. A. M., and M. Ivanov, 1995, Parameters controlling acoustic properties of carbonate and volcaniclastic sediments at sites 866 and 869, in E. L. Winterer, W. W. Sager, J. V. Firth, and J. M. Sinton, eds., Proceedings of the ocean drilling program, scientific results, ocean drilling program, 143, 287303. Kirkham, A., M. Bin Juma, T. A. M. McKean, A. F. Palmer, M. J. Smith, A. H. Thomas, and B. N. Twombley, 1996, Fluid saturation prediction in the transition zone carbonate reservoir, Abu Dhabi: GeoArabia, 1, 551566.

P 13 Tiijj

and Q 15T ijij 13 Tiijj ;

(B-2)

where the tensor Tijkl relates the uniform far-field strain to the strain within the ellipsoidal inclusion. Tijkl are functions of the inclusion aspect ratio and of the bulk and shear moduli of the initial host, K 1 and 1 , respectively, and of the inclusions, K 2 and 2 , respectively (Mavko et al., 1998). For spherical inclusions, P and Q are given by (Berryman, 1995)

P
and

K c 4 c 3 K m 4 c 3

(B-3)

K c c ; K m c

with c

c 9K c 8c 6 K c 2c

(B-4)

APPENDIX C SELF-CONSISTENT APPROXIMATION

The SC approximation (Budiansky, 1965; Wu, 1966) allows us to predict the elastic moduli of a composite materials with inclusions. In this approach, the interaction of the inclusions is approximated by replacing the background medium with an as-yet-unknown effective medium and each constituent is treated symmetrically. The SC formulas for bulk K and shear moduli of a 2C rock (one host phase, one inclusion phase) are

f i K i KPi 1 f i K h KPh 0

(C-1)

f i i Qi 1 f i h Qh 0;

(C-2)

where K h and h , respectively, are bulk and shear moduli of the host material; K i and i , respectively, are bulk and shear moduli of the inclusion; f i : volume fraction of the inclusion; and P, Q are geometrical factors where the superscript i (respectively, h) indicates that the factor is for the material of elastic moduli K i and i (respectively, K h and h ) in a background medium of elastic moduli K and m.The equations C-1 and C-2 are solved iteratively as follows:

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