Concept

Lithification

Lithification (from the Ancient Greek word lithos meaning 'rock' and the Latin-derived suffix -ific) is the process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and gradually become solid rock. Essentially, lithification is a process of porosity destruction through compaction and cementation. Lithification includes all the processes which convert unconsolidated sediments into sedimentary rocks. Petrifaction, though often used as a synonym, is more specifically used to describe the replacement of organic material by silica in the formation of fossils.

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithification

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Related publications (1)

Three-dimensional modeling of permeability and porosity reductions in saturated porous media

Changes in hydraulic properties of soils and aquifers as a result of biogeochemical transformations, such as bacteria growth and mineral phase precipitation/dissolution, may lead to significant modifications of the groundwater flow field. This affects in turn the migration pathways and transport rates of solutes, and consequently their spatial distribution. The aim of this work is to investigate different aspects of the field-scale evolution of porosity and hydraulic conductivity in saturated porous media d

2007

Related concepts (2)

Porosity

Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure the "accessible void", the total amount of void space accessible from the surface (cf. closed-cell foam). There are many ways to test porosity in a substance or part, such as industrial CT scanning.

Diagenesis

Diagenesis (ˌdaɪ.əˈdʒɛnəsɪs) is the process that describes physical and chemical changes in sediments first caused by water-rock interactions, microbial activity, and compaction after their deposition. Increased pressure and temperature only start to play a role as sediments become buried much deeper in the Earth's crust. In the early stages, the transformation of poorly consolidated sediments into sedimentary rock (lithification) is simply accompanied by a reduction in porosity and water expulsion (clay sediments), while their main mineralogical assemblages remain unaltered.

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