Navigate the Geomechanics and Rock Physics (GaRP) Laboratory

GARP Lab Home.jpg GARP Rock PREP.jpg GARP Lab.jpg GARP RP 4.jpg GARP ROaS.jpg

 

We currently conduct research in the following areas:
 
  • Conventional reservoir characterization
  • Unconventional reservoirs
  • Geothermal energy
  • Mud volcanoes
  • Wellbore stability analysis
  • Carbon Capture and Sequestration
  • Static and dynamic elastic properties
  • Deformation bands
  • Fault zone
 
Selected Publications:
 
  1. Basant, R. A., O. O. Blake, and G. A. Ryan. 2024. An experimental study on the influence of pressure on permeability and seismic velocity in the Montserrat geothermal field (West Indies). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2024.108177.
  2. Ramjarrie K.T., Blake O.O., and Iyare U.C. 2024. P- and S-wave velocities and attenuations of Naparima Hill Formation mudstones at elevated pressures. Journal of Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2024.105450.
  3. Blake, O.O., Ramsook, R., Iyare, U.C, and Osman A. 2024. Petrographic, petrophysical, and mechanical characterization of the ultra-tight Casa Cruz sandstone, Moruga Formation, Southern Basin, Trinidad. West Indian Journal of Engineering, Vol.46, No.2, January, pp.79-90. https://doi.org/10.47412/HZWE3939.
  4. Adele Harrypersad-Daniel, Blake, O.O., and Ramsook, R. 2023. Compressive and Tensile Strength Anisotropy of Friable Sandstone and Thin-bed Shale of the Pleistocene Erin Formation: Insights for safe operating mud weight windows for vertical and horizontal wells. Pure and Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-023-03384-x.
  5. Iyare U.C., Blake O.O., Frash L.P., Carey J.W., Jones D., and Ramjarrie K. 2023. Water-weakening Effects on the Failure behaviour of Mudstones. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-023-03544-4.
  6. Iyare U.C, Blake O.O., Frash L.P., Carey J.W., and Ramsook R. 2023. Effect of water saturation on failure behaviour of mudstones under high pressures. 57th U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, American Rock Mechanics Association, Atlanta, Geogia, USA. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56952/ARMA-2023-0311
  7. Blake O.O, Faulkner D.R., Worden R.H., Armitage, P. J., and Espie, A. A. 2022. Effect of thermal shock on the permeability and seismic wave velocity of the caprock and reservoir during CO2 injection. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2022.103691.
  8. Iyare U.C., Blake O.O., Ramsook R., and Faulkner D.R. 2022. Experimental study of the anisotropic behaviour of the Naparima Hill argillite. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2022.105083.
  9. Adele Harrypersad-Daniel, Blake, O.O., and Ramsook, R. 2022. Determining the static Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, and compressive strength of the friable Erin Formation rocks using P-wave velocity. Journal of Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2022.104557.
  10. Basant, R. A., B. Y. Lynne, R. Ramsook, G. A. Ryan, O. O. Blake, and J. E. P. Utley. 2022, Utilizing cores for characterising the temperature and permeability regimes in a litho-stratigraphic model of the Montserrat geothermal system, Montserrat (Lesser Antilles arc, West Indies), Geothermics, 100, 102341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2021.102341.
  11. Iyare U.C, Blake O.O, and Ramsook R. 2021. Fracability Evaluation of the Upper Cretaceous Naparima Hill Formation, Trinidad. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109599.
  12. Blake, O.O., Ramsook, R., Iyare, U.C., Moonan X. R., and Gopaul R. C. 2021. Integrating pseudo-3D electrical resistivity tomography and digital elevation model to map the near-surface structures and morphology of a mud volcano. Journal of Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2021.104442.
  13. Iyare U.C, Blake O.O, and Ramsook R. 2021. Modelling the Failure Behaviour of Mudstones under High Pressures. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02467-2.  
  14. Blake O.O, Ramsook R., Faulkner D.R., Iyare U. C. 2021. Relationship between the static and dynamic bulk moduli of argillites. Pure and Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-021-02683-5.
  15. Iyare U.C, Blake O.O, and Ramsook R. 2021. Estimating the Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Argillites using Brazilian Tensile Strength, Ultrasonic Wave Velocities, and Elastic Properties. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02358-y.
  16. Racine Basant, Graham Ryan, Jared Peacock, Oshaine Blake, Bridget Lynne, Antonio Camacho, and Stefanie Hautmann. 2020. Multi-geophysical parameter classification of the Montserrat geothermal system. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.102006. Geothermics.
  17. Iyare U.C, Ramsook R, Blake O.O, and Faulkner D.R. 2020. Petrographical and Petrophysical Characterization of the Late Cretaceous Naparima Hill Formation, Central Range, Trinidad, West Indies. International Journal of Coal Geology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2020.103592.
  18. Iyare U.C, Blake O.O, and Ramsook R. 2020. Brittleness Evaluation of Naparima Hill Mudstones. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107737.
  19. Blake O.O., Faulkner D.R., and Bascombe R. 2020. Using Q factor to detect closed microfractures. GEOPHYSICS 85: MR285-MR295. https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2019-0093.1.
  20. Blake O.O and Faulkner D.R. 2020. Using Velocities, Density, and Bulk Modulus to Predict the Permeability Evolution of Microfractured Rocks. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02163-7.
  21. Blake O.O, Ramsook R., Faulkner D.R., and Iyare U. C. 2020. The Effect of Effective Pressure on the Relationship Between Static and Dynamic Young’s Moduli and Poisson’s Ratio of Naparima Hill Formation Mudstones. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02140-0.
  22. Blake O.O., Faulkner D.R., and Tatham D. 2019. The role of fractures, effective pressure and loading on the difference between the static and dynamic Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus of Westerly granite. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science. Volume 116, Pages 87-98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2019.03.001.
  23. Blake O.O., and Faulkner D.R. 2016. The effect of fracture density and stress state on the static and dynamic bulk moduli of Westerly granite. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 121(4): 2382-2399.
  24. Henri Leclère, Frédéric Cappa , Daniel R Faulkner , Olivier Fabbri , Peter Armitage , and Oshaine Blake. 2015. Development and maintenance of fluid overpressures in crustal fault zones by elastic compaction and implications for earthquake swarms. Journal of Geophysical Research. Volume 120, Issue 6, Pages 4450–4473. DOI: 10.1002/2014JB011759.  
  25. Place Joachim, Blake O.O., Rietbrock A., and Faulkner D.R. 2014, Wet fault or dry fault? A laboratory approach to remotely monitor the hydro-mechanical state of a discontinuity using controlled- source seismics. Pure and Applied Geophysics. Volume 171, Issue 11, pp 2887-2897. DOI: 10.1007/s00024-014-0805-z.
  26. Behnsen, J., O. Blake, R. Cernik, and P. Withers. 2014. Identifying microcracks in multi-phase crystalline rocks by x-ray CT, in Industrial Computed Tomography edited, Wels, Austria.
  27. Blake O.O., Faulkner D.R., and Rietbrock A. 2013. The effect of varying damage history in crystalline rocks on the P and S wave velocities and elastic properties under hydrostatic confining pressure, Pure and Applied Geophysics. Volume 170, Issue 4, pp 493-505. DOI: 10.1007/s00024-012-0550-0.
 
Top of Page