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1 Laboratory of Radiochemistry, Department of Chemistry, PO Box 55, 00014, University of Helsinki, Finland
2 UMR 6532 CNRS HYDRASA, University of Poitiers, 40 Avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France paul.sardini{at}hydrasa.univ-poitiers.fr
3 Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, PO Box 14, Helsinki, Finland
Accurate knowledge of porosity is essential for understanding the links between basic petrophysical parameters, such as diffusion coefficients, permeability and conductivity. Standard methods used to determine porosity quantify the bulk porosity and the distribution of pore sizes. Crystalline rocks are rarely monomineralic, and the porosity of polyphasic rocks is considered heterogeneous at the mineral grain scale. Calculation of bulk petrophysical parameters must take into account porosity and mineral-phase microstructures, as well as connectivity. The polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) method uses radioactively (14C)-labelled methylmethacrylate (14C-MMA) liquid to impregnate the rock sample, which is then polymerized by irradiation, cut and autoradiographed. Porosity is quantified by digitizing the autoradiograph and subsequent densitometry. Staining of the same rock surface uses chemical agents that rapidly reveal the primary minerals of unaltered and altered crystalline rocks: mainly quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase and dark minerals. The images of PMMA autoradiographs and stained rock surfaces are combined to quantify mineral-specific porosities.
The methodology has been applied here to a granite core from Palmottu (central Finland) representing coarse-grained granite adjacent to a potential water-conducting fracture. Imaging of the porosity relative to mineralogy is presented and complemented by mineral specific porosities.
