Measurement of spatial distribution of total and accessible porosity in sedimentary rocks using isotopic radiation transmission: Device design and testing

An isotopic radiation transmission technique for quantifying the spatial distribution of porosity in sedimentary rocks is presented. A device was designed and constructed to examine rock samples of volumes sufficiently large for studying solute migration in rocks, so that a one-millimeter spatial resolution is attained with measurement acquisition time of one point per second. The paper demonstrates how the device was optimized for these specifications, while abiding by the restrictions implicit in the utilization of the exponential law of radiation attenuation to quantify physical parameters. Total porosity was obtained from measurements of radiation attenuation in dry samples, while solute-accessible porosity was determined from measurements with samples saturated with either KNO3KNO3 or KI solutions. Results are presented for three different rock types to demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the technique.