Measurements of Physical Properties and Mechanical State in the Ocean Drilling Program

June 26-28, 1986 – Cornell, New York
Convener: Daniel Karig

Summary

Throughout the history of scientific ocean drilling, the measurement of physical properties and mechanical state has received a relatively low priority.  This status is unwarranted in light of the growing quantification of the geosciences, which has led to the demand for more and better values of such quantities as porosity, permeability, stress, and strain.  These quantities are necessary, for example, in understanding the consolidation (compaction) of basinal sediments, and for the construction of geomechanical models of accretionary prisms and models of the rheology of porous sediments.

The strongest recommendation from the workshop is for the development of the ability to measure physical properties and mechanical state in situ at depths greater than a few hundred meters.  The workshop participants also recommend that several additional physical properties be routinely measured in the shipboard laboratory including: permeability, pore fluid resistivity, bound water state, and thermal conductivity.

Workshop Report (pdf)

Convenors

Daniel Karig
Matthew Salisbury