Going with the flow: Researchers find compaction bands in sandstone are permeable
Monday, June 6, 2011 - 13:00
in Earth & Climate
When geologists survey an area of land for the potential that gas or petroleum deposits could exist there, they must take into account the composition of rocks that lie below the surface. Take, for instance, sandstonea sedimentary rock composed mostly of weakly cemented quartz grains. Previous research had suggested that compaction bandshighly compressed, narrow, flat layers within the sandstoneare much less permeable than the host rock and might act as barriers to the flow of oil or gas.