Pore-scale tomography & imaging - applications, techniques and recommended practice
Pore-scale tomography & imaging - applications, techniques and recommended practice
Editor(s): M. Halisch, H. S. Steeb, S. Henkel, and C. M. Krawczyk

Three- and four-dimensional pore-scale imaging techniques have become an essential part of geosciences in the past years. With these imaging techniques, structures and processes can be visualized, evaluated, compared, modelled and understood on the basis of first physical principles on a large variety of scales (from nanometer to centimeters and decimeters). Many of the investigated features and parameters are of interdisciplinary interest or can add substantial new knowledge to many common assumptions. Moreover, modern imaging methods enable the performance of numerical experiments on more or less in situ morphological information of the investigated specimen. This significantly helps in understanding, for example, pore-scale processes/physics and pore–matrix interactions.

The aim of this special issue is to highlight different techniques, methods and applications of pore-scale tomography and pore-scale imaging of natural rocks and soils, providing a comprehensive perspective on recent and further developments (technical, numerical and methodical) in this area. Contributions from all fields of applied geosciences (e.g. geophysics, geology, rock mechanics, soil science, civil and environmental engineering, hydrology, volcanology and many others) using different 3-D/4-D imaging techniques such as the following on different scales are welcome:

  • X-ray computed tomography (µ-CT; human CT);
  • synchrotron computed tomography (Sr-CT);
  • neutron tomography (NT);
  • positron emission process tomography (PET);
  • focused ion beam (FIB).

This may include qualitative as well as quantitative case studies, new technical and scientific applications, recommended (best) practices and original research papers. Contributions from interdisciplinary geoscientific imaging research are greatly appreciated.

Important note for submission

To shorten the time needed for review, every submitting author is kindly asked to announce two appropriate reviewers (if possible) and to shortly describe why they would be a good choice. In addition, an appropriate selection of keywords will help the editorial board.

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19 Jul 2016
Phase segmentation of X-ray computer tomography rock images using machine learning techniques: an accuracy and performance study
Swarup Chauhan, Wolfram Rühaak, Hauke Anbergen, Alen Kabdenov, Marcus Freise, Thorsten Wille, and Ingo Sass
Solid Earth, 7, 1125–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1125-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1125-2016, 2016
Short summary
19 Jul 2016
Simulating stress-dependent fluid flow in a fractured core sample using real-time X-ray CT data
Tobias Kling, Da Huo, Jens-Oliver Schwarz, Frieder Enzmann, Sally Benson, and Philipp Blum
Solid Earth, 7, 1109–1124, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1109-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1109-2016, 2016
Short summary
15 Jul 2016
4-D imaging of sub-second dynamics in pore-scale processes using real-time synchrotron X-ray tomography
Katherine J. Dobson, Sophia B. Coban, Samuel A. McDonald, Joanna N. Walsh, Robert C. Atwood, and Philip J. Withers
Solid Earth, 7, 1059–1073, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1059-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1059-2016, 2016
Short summary
09 Jun 2016
X-ray CT analysis of pore structure in sand
Toshifumi Mukunoki, Yoshihisa Miyata, Kazuaki Mikami, and Erika Shiota
Solid Earth, 7, 929–942, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-929-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-929-2016, 2016
Short summary
07 Jun 2016
X-ray CT analyses, models and numerical simulations: a comparison with petrophysical analyses in an experimental CO2 study
Steven Henkel, Dieter Pudlo, Frieder Enzmann, Viktor Reitenbach, Daniel Albrecht, Leonhard Ganzer, and Reinhard Gaupp
Solid Earth, 7, 917–927, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-917-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-917-2016, 2016
Short summary
04 May 2016
Development of a numerical workflow based on μ-CT imaging for the determination of capillary pressure–saturation-specific interfacial area relationship in 2-phase flow pore-scale porous-media systems: a case study on Heletz sandstone
Aaron Peche, Matthias Halisch, Alexandru Bogdan Tatomir, and Martin Sauter
Solid Earth, 7, 727–739, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-727-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-727-2016, 2016
Short summary
22 Apr 2016
A new X-ray-transparent flow-through reaction cell for a μ-CT-based concomitant surveillance of the reaction progress of hydrothermal mineral–fluid interactions
Wolf-Achim Kahl, Christian Hansen, and Wolfgang Bach
Solid Earth, 7, 651–658, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-651-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-651-2016, 2016
Short summary
30 Mar 2016
Multi-phase classification by a least-squares support vector machine approach in tomography images of geological samples
Faisal Khan, Frieder Enzmann, and Michael Kersten
Solid Earth, 7, 481–492, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-481-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-481-2016, 2016
Short summary
24 Mar 2016
Calculating structural and geometrical parameters by laboratory measurements and X-ray microtomography: a comparative study applied to a limestone sample before and after a dissolution experiment
Linda Luquot, Vanessa Hebert, and Olivier Rodriguez
Solid Earth, 7, 441–456, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-441-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-441-2016, 2016
Short summary
15 Feb 2016
Classification and quantification of pore shapes in sandstone reservoir rocks with 3-D X-ray micro-computed tomography
Mayka Schmitt, Matthias Halisch, Cornelia Müller, and Celso Peres Fernandes
Solid Earth, 7, 285–300, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-285-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-285-2016, 2016
Short summary
26 Jan 2016
X-ray microtomography analysis of soil structure deformation caused by centrifugation
S. Schlüter, F. Leuther, S. Vogler, and H.-J. Vogel
Solid Earth, 7, 129–140, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-129-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-129-2016, 2016
Short summary
06 Sep 2016
Recent developments in neutron imaging with applications for porous media research
Anders P. Kaestner, Pavel Trtik, Mohsen Zarebanadkouki, Daniil Kazantsev, Michal Snehota, Katherine J. Dobson, and Eberhard H. Lehmann
Solid Earth, 7, 1281–1292, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1281-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1281-2016, 2016
Short summary
22 Aug 2016
On the path to the digital rock physics of gas hydrate-bearing sediments – processing of in situ synchrotron-tomography data
Kathleen Sell, Erik H. Saenger, Andrzej Falenty, Marwen Chaouachi, David Haberthür, Frieder Enzmann, Werner F. Kuhs, and Michael Kersten
Solid Earth, 7, 1243–1258, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1243-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1243-2016, 2016
18 Aug 2016
Quantitative experimental monitoring of molecular diffusion in clay with positron emission tomography
Johannes Kulenkampff, Abdelhamid Zakhnini, Marion Gründig, and Johanna Lippmann-Pipke
Solid Earth, 7, 1207–1215, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1207-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1207-2016, 2016
Short summary
18 Aug 2016
Geoscientific process monitoring with positron emission tomography (GeoPET)
Johannes Kulenkampff, Marion Gründig, Abdelhamid Zakhnini, and Johanna Lippmann-Pipke
Solid Earth, 7, 1217–1231, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1217-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1217-2016, 2016
Short summary
04 Aug 2016
Digital carbonate rock physics
Erik H. Saenger, Stephanie Vialle, Maxim Lebedev, David Uribe, Maria Osorno, Mandy Duda, and Holger Steeb
Solid Earth, 7, 1185–1197, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1185-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1185-2016, 2016
Short summary
03 Aug 2016
X-ray computed tomography investigation of structures in Opalinus Clay from large-scale to small-scale after mechanical testing
Annette Kaufhold, Matthias Halisch, Gerhard Zacher, and Stephan Kaufhold
Solid Earth, 7, 1171–1183, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1171-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1171-2016, 2016
Short summary
22 Jul 2016
Porosity and permeability determination of organic-rich Posidonia shales based on 3-D analyses by FIB-SEM microscopy
Georg H. Grathoff, Markus Peltz, Frieder Enzmann, and Stephan Kaufhold
Solid Earth, 7, 1145–1156, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1145-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1145-2016, 2016
Short summary
20 Jul 2016
Pore-scale tomography and imaging: applications, techniques and recommended practice
Matthias Halisch, Holger Steeb, Steven Henkel, and Charlotte M. Krawczyk
Solid Earth, 7, 1141–1143, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1141-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1141-2016, 2016
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