In this work, we combined different imaging and experimental measuring methods for analysis of cross-scale effects which reduce permeability of tight reservoir rocks. Simulated permeability of digital images of rocks is often overestimated, which is caused by non-resolvable clay content within the pores of a rock. By combining FIB-SEM with micro-XCT imaging, we were able to simulate the true clay mineral abundance to match experimentally measured permeability with simulated permeability.

We develop a two-step methodology combining multiple surface deformation measurements above a salt extraction site (Vauvert, France) in order to overcome the difference in resolution and accuracy. Using this 3-D velocity field, we develop a model to determine the kinematics of the salt layer. The model shows a collapse of the salt layer beneath the exploitation. It also identifies a salt flow from the deepest and most external part of the salt layer towards the center of the exploitation.

The geothermal potential of a carbonate reservoir in the Rhine-Ruhr area, Germany, was investigated by field and laboratory investigations. The carbonate layer of interest is approx. 150 m thick; located at 4 to 6 km depth; and might extend below Essen, Bochum, and Dortmund. We proposed focusing on discontinuities striking NNW–SSE for geothermal applications, as these are the most common, strike in the direction of the main horizontal stress, and dominate reservoir fluid flow.

Many of the world's hydrocarbon resources are found in rifted sedimentary basins. Some rifts experience multiple phases of extension and inversion. This results in complicated oil and gas generation, migration, and entrapment histories. We present examples of basins in the Western Desert of Egypt and the western Black Sea that were inverted multiple times, sometimes separated by additional phases of extension. We then discuss how these complex deformation histories impact exploration campaigns.

We use 2D numerical models to highlight the role of basal drag in subduction force balance. We show that basal drag can significantly affect velocities and evolution in our simulations and suggest an explanation as to why there are no trends in plate velocities with age in the Cenozoic subduction record (which we extracted from recent reconstruction using GPlates). The insights into the role of basal drag will help set up global models of plate dynamics or specific regional subduction models.

Magma accommodation in the shallow crust leads to deformation of the surrounding host rock through the creation of faults, fractures and folds. This deformation will impact fluid flow around intrusive magma bodies (including sills and laccoliths) by changing the porosity and permeability network of the host rock. The results may have important implications for industries where fluid flow within the subsurface adds value (e.g. oil and gas, hydrology, geothermal and carbon sequestration).

In this paper we test a simplified numerical model for pyroclastic density currents or PDCs (mixtures of hot gas, lapilli and ash moving across the landscape under the effect of gravity). The aim is quantifying the differences between real and modelled deposits of some PDCs of the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius, Italy. This step is important because in the paper it is demonstrated that this simplified model is useful for constraining input parameters for more computationally expensive models.

We analysed a sedimentary rock package located in Castlepoint, New Zealand, to test the control of the tectonic setting on the observed deformation structures. In extension and contraction, we observed faults and small fault-like structures characterised by complex spatial patterns and a reduction in porosity and grain size compared with the host rock. With these properties, the structures are likely to act as barriers to fluid flow and cause compartmentalisation of the sedimentary sequence.

Serpentinite, generated by the hydration of ultramafic rocks, is thought to be related to slow earthquakes at the subduction plate interface in the mantle wedge. We conducted friction experiments on brucite, one of the components of serpentinite, and found that wet brucite exhibits low and unstable friction under low effective normal stress conditions. This result suggests that wet brucite may be key for slow earthquakes at the subduction plate interface in a hydrated mantle wedge.