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Characterization of a ghost-rock karst system controlled by fracture network and bedding planes in a semiarid region (NE Brazil) using ground penetrating radar (GPR)

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Abstract

The karstification process causes mineral dissolution and mechanical removal of carbonate rocks, creating multiscale secondary porosity that greatly affects the development of karst reservoirs. The carbonate rock weathering is mainly nucleated from fractures and bedding planes and spreads out for large areas, forming a ghost-rock karst system divided by different weathering intensities. Locally, where the hydrodynamic conditions are high total removal of the weathered rock lead to the rise of the cave network and eventually the collapse or subsidence of dolines and other karst landforms. This case study presents the use of 2D and 3D GPR data to map karst levels and features in depth of a karst system in the semiarid region of NE Brazil. Synthetic GPR data and direct observation on doline crack walls support the division of karst units into ghost-rock, alterite, and residual soil zones, marked by low-amplitude reflections, and fresh to slightly weathered bedrock, indicated by vertical high-amplitude GPR zones. High-resolution aerial images and digital elevation model provide the surface geometry and distribution of karst landforms, controlled by an orthogonal weathering/fracture system identified in the GPR profiles and time slices. In addition, the karst system was vertically divided into four zones and the area of occurrence of karst units in each zone was estimated. Pore space was then calculated for each zone, assuming porosities to the filling material. We analyzed the estimated pore space distribution compared with a gas-bearing karst reservoir in China.

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out in association with the ongoing R&D project registered as ANP 20502-1, Processos e Propriedades em Reservartórios Carbonáticos Fraturados e Carstificados—POROCARSTE 3D (UFRN/UNB/UFRJ/UFC/Shell Brasil/ANP)—Porokarst—Processes and Properties in Fractured and Karstified Carbonate Reservoirs, sponsored by Shell Brasil under the ANP R&D levy as “Compromisso de Investimento com Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento”. We also thank Iuriane M. M. Conti and Francisco Tomaz Bezerra, who helped acquire and process GPR and UAV data. DLC and FHB thank the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for their productivity grants.

Funding

This study was funded by Shell Brasil under the ANP R&D levy as “Compromisso de Investimento com Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento”. Grant number: ANP 20502-1.

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  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geodínâmica e Geofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), Natal, Brazil

    D. L. de Castro & F. H. R. Bezerra

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  1. D. L. de Castro
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Both authors wrote the main manuscript text, prepared the figures, and reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to D. L. de Castro.

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de Castro, D.L., Bezerra, F.H.R. Characterization of a ghost-rock karst system controlled by fracture network and bedding planes in a semiarid region (NE Brazil) using ground penetrating radar (GPR). Environ Earth Sci 82, 366 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-11052-5

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