An imaging method for the porosity of sedimentary rocks; adjustment of the PMMA method, example of a characterization of a calcareous shale

Porosity of sedimentary rocks can be mapped and quantified by a new technique: the (super 14) C-PolyMethylMethAcrylate (PMMA) method. This imaging technique provides a porosity map drawn from physical information including porosity details stemming from 10 (super -9) m dimensions on sample surface dimensions of up to 10 (super -1) m. The PMMA porosity value is similar to that obtained by standard methods of porosity determination. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the same rock cross section reveal the relationships between pore spaces and bounding minerals. This information is important in order to take porosity heterogeneities into account when interpreting various physical problems such as transport properties determined by laboratory measurements and in situ tracer experiments.