Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel
Petrophysics Laboratory
Function
The Petrophysics lab is used to measure the physical properties of rocks and sediments. These properties are indicators of composition, formation, tectonic regime, and environmental conditions of the deposits. Some properties can be measured rapidly at high spatial resolution and serve as proxies for processes such as paleoclimatic change. Because physical properties are usually well defined and quantitative, they help constrain the complex mineralogical and fluid systems in rocks and sediments.
Instruments
Section-half measurements:
- Contact-based P-wave velocity (bayonet PWAVE_B and caliper PWAVE_C)
- Automated vane shear (AVS) for shear strength determination
- Helium pycnometer for volume determination
- Mettler-Toledo XS204 dual-balance system for mass measurements
- Thermo-Fisher back-vented oven for drying of samples
Whole-round measurements:
- Whole-round multisensor track for magnetic susceptibility (MS), bulk density by gamma ray attenuation (GRA), and P-wave velocity (PWAVE_L)
- Whole-round multisensor track for out-of-sequence “fast” logging, currently configured to provide X-ray imaging capability as well as MS and GRA (cannot run X-ray and MS/GRA simultaneously)
- Natural gamma radiation multisensor logger with 10 cm resolution and fast acquisition rates
- TeKa TK-04 thermal conductivity meter