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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2005; v. 240; p. 1-14;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.240.01.01
© 2005 Geological Society of London

Types of permeable fractures in granite

J. Sausse1 & A. Genter2

1 UMR 7566, Géologie et Gestion des Ressources Minérales et Energétiques, UHP Nancy 1, BP 239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre Cedex, France judith.sausse{at}g2r.uhp-nancy.fr
2 BRGM CDG/ENE, BP 6009, 45060 Orléans Cedex 2, France

This study presents a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and describing types of fracture permeability in the Soultz-sous-Forêts granite, Upper Rhine Graben. At Soultz, during the 1993 stimulation tests in the GPK1 well, it was shown that only a limited number of natural fractures contributed to flow, whereas there are thousands of fractures embedded within the massive granite. In order to understand the flow hierarchy, a detailed comparison between static (fracture apertures based on ARI raw curves) and dynamic data (hydraulic tests) was carried out. We propose that two scales of fracture networks are present: a highly connected network consisting of fractures with small apertures that may represent the far-field reservoir, and another network that contains isolated and wide permeable fractures (that produce an anisotropic permeability in the rock) and allows a hydraulic connection between the injection and production wells.