A physical model of the low-frequency electrical polarization of clay rocks

Philippe Cosenza (1) , Ahmad Ghorbani (1) , A. Revil (2, 3) , M. Zamora (4) , M. Schmutz (5) , D. Jougnot (2, 3, 6) , Nicolas Florsch (1)

1 SISYPHE - Structure et fonctionnement des systèmes hydriques continentaux
2 Department of Geophysics [Golden CO]
3 LGIT - Laboratoire de Géophysique Interne et Tectonophysique
4 IPGP (UMR_7154) - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
5 Géoressources et environnement
6 ANDRA - Agence Nationale pour la Gestion des Déchets Radioactifs

Low-frequency (0.18 Hz to 1.5 kHz) effective dielectric spectra have been measured on a set of near-saturated samples of argillite. The measured spectra of the real part of the complex apparent permittivity did not show significant correlation with cation exchange capacity (CEC) per unit mass of rock values. They satisfied a power law relationship with the frequency, at least for samples with CEC values lower than 10 cmol/kg. The Maxwell-Wagner-Hanai-Bruggeman formulation used for a two-phase mixture has been modified to account for mutual polarization between the pockets of water located in the micropores and those located in the macropores. The results of the modeling calculations illustrate (1) the ability of this new formulation to reproduce the power law relationships of the measured spectra of the real and imaginary components of the complex permittivity and (2) the strong impact of the pore electrical conductivity.

Keywords: spectral induced polarization; complex resistivity; argillite; cation exchange capacity

Domains: Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]

Philippe Cosenza, Ahmad Ghorbani, A. Revil, M. Zamora, M. Schmutz, et al.. A physical model of the low-frequency electrical polarization of clay rocks. Journal of Geophysical Research : Solid Earth, 2008, 113 (B8), pp.B08204. ⟨10.1029/2007JB005539⟩. ⟨insu-00333825⟩