Fractal Properties of Various Clay Minerals Obtained from SEM Images

Figure 2

How clay minerals occupy pore body/throat which would damage the permeability of the formation. (a) Kaolinite filling pores inside the sandstone [2]. (b) Illite gathering at the pore body and pore throats (image reproduced from the “Images of Clay Archive” of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland and the Clay Minerals Society (https://www.minersoc.org/images-of-clay.html)). (c) Mixed illite-smectite, (d) smectite, (e) chloride, and (f) schematic diagram of bound water caused by the presence of clays. (c–e) Images are from the core samples of the study area.

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