ALL SAMPLES MUST BE DRY TO EFFECTIVELY ESTIMATE POROSITY, PERMEABILITY

AND TEXTURE.

CLASTICS
Rock Type.
 Sand (silica (SiO2)) – unconsolidated (no matrix or cementing)
 Sandstone(silica (SiO2))– consolidated – can be disaggregated

Colour of cuttings – Light grey, light brown grey etc.

TEXTURE
Induration. (poorly, moderately, well very well)
Loose – no cement or matrix = sand, visible matrix or cement on grains =
disaggregated.
Friable – easily pushed apart
Consolidation due to matrix/cement
 Unconsolidated
 Poorly cemented
 Moderately cemented
 Well cemented

Grain colour / transparency.

Grain colours (Greyish pink, pale pink, pale orange brown, smoky grey etc.)
Are grains pitted or frosted?

A-Grain Size (USE GRAIN SIZE CHART)

 1.000-2.000mm Very course
 0.500-1.000mm Coarse grained
 0.250-0.500mm Medium grained
 0.250-0.125mm Fine grained
 < 0.125mm Very fine grained

B-Grains shape (NOT CHIP SHAPE)

This is how sharp the edges of the grains are as has effect on porosity and
permeability.
 Rounded
 Sub rounded
 Sub angular
 Angular
C-Sorting (How grains are arranged and sorted has effect on porosity and
permeability).
 Very poorly sorted
 Poorly sorted (ill sorted )
 Moderately sorted
 Well sorted
 Very well sorted
Cement and matrix.
Cement is deposited chemically and matrix mechanically
1st put the type of cement/matrix. Predominantly well cemented, occasionally poorly
cemented, very well cemented.
 Calcareous
 Argillaceous
 Dolomitic
 Anhydritic / Gypsiferous
 Siliceous
 Pyritic
 Sulphur
 Kaolinitic
 Sideritic etc.

Accessorie minerals and distribution or observations

 Chert
 Glauconite
 Chlorite
 Lignite / carbonaceous / coaly
 Muscovite / mica
 Pyrite
 Sulphur
 Hematite
 Limonite etc.

PorosityWS
 None – grains are tight together
 Poor intergranular porosity – pores are not connected
 Fair intergranular porosity – pores present within grains
 Good intergranular porosity – Some pores between grains are connected
 Excellent intergranular porosity – All pores are connected
Observations
Are there open pore throats or are they plugged with interstitial clay or kaolin?
 CLAYS/SHALE
Rock Type.
 Claystone - irregular and non-fissile.
 Shale –fissile
 Siltstone – scratch with glass rod to determine if silty or sandy.
Colour :- Light grey, light brown grey etc
Hardness
 Brittle
 Plastic
 Crumbly – friable
 Soft
 Firm
 Hard
 Very hard – commonly siliceous
Texture
 Waxy (looks like a candle)
 Earthy (looks like dirt)
 Laminated (thin beds through the sample – beware of PDC cuttings)
 Rough
 Greasy
 Smooth
Accessories ( Do not mention things like non-calcareous, non-sandy etc.
its is not an elephant either and it is not mentioned.
 Calcareous
 Carbonaceous
 Dolomitic
 Sandy
 Silty (for claystone description only)
 Argillaceous (for siltstone description only)
 Glauconitic
 Pyritic
 Micaceous, micromicaceous
 Chert
 Sulphur
 Haematite
 Evaporates
Rock Type
 ANHYDRITE (CaSO4).
 Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O).
 Salt (NaCl).
Remember Anhydrite is de watered gypsum there for it is not hard!!! Mohs hardness
scale tells us gypsum is 2. The reason it drills so slow is it is dense!!! Look at the
wireline density -15%.

Colour/transparency
 transparent
 translucent
 opaque
Hardness
 Brittle - hard but crushes easily
 Soft
 Firm
 Hard
 Very hard

Crystal Size
 1.000-2.000mm very coarse crystalline
 0.500-1.000mm coarse crystalline
 0.250-0.500mm medium crystalline
 0.250-0.125mm Fine crystalline
 0.125-0.063mm Very fine crystalline
 0.063-0.004mm Microcrystalline
 <0.004mm Cryptocrystalline

TEXTURE
 Smooth
 Chalky
 Cryptocrystalline
 CARBONATES

Rock Type.
 Limestone(CaCO3 ) – fast fizz and granular
 Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2 ) – slow lazy fizz and crystalline
Dolomitic limestone and variations etc.

Colour of rock –: Light grey, light brown grey etc.

Hardness
 Soft
 Friable
 Firm
 Hard
 Very hard
Crystal Size for DOLOMITE / Grain Size for LIMESTONE
USE GRAIN SIZE CHART
 1.000-2.000mm very coarse crystalline
 0.500-1.000mm coarse crystalline
 0.250-0.500mm medium crystalline
 0.250-0.125mm Fine crystalline
 0.125-0.063mm Very fine crystalline
 0.063-0.004mm Microcrystalline
 <0.004mm Cryptocrystalline
TEXTURE
 Sucrosic
 Vitreous
 Rough
 Smooth
 Chalky
 Oolitic
 Styolitic
 Earthy if very high argillaceous content
Accessories
 Chert
 Glauconite
 Coal / carbonaceous
 Muscovite / Mica
 Pyrite
 Sulphur
 Fossils – mollusks, gastropods, foraminifera etc.
 Trace fossils – escape burros, impressions, bioturbation etc.
Porosity
 No visible porosity
 Poor visible porosit
 Fair porosity
 Good porosity
 Excellent porosity

POROSITY TYPES
Intergranular
Intercrystalline
Pinpoint
Vuggy
Birdseye
Inter / intra fossicular
Moldic
Fracture

Secondary mineralization
vug fill - fracture fill – interstitial plugging pore throats reducing permeability.
Dolomitic
Calcite
Quartz / siliceous