Linear relationships between petrophysical properties and mineralogical constitution—preliminary results

A direct way for tightly relating the mineralogical constitution to density and seismic velocity is demonstrated. In an attempt to characterize rocks by a single quantity, the oxygen ions are considered as a closely packed structure. Thus, the distribution of cations, including silicon, ought to correlate with the density as well as with the seismic velocity. The cation fraction for each mineral phase is defined by the κ-value, the ratio of the number of cations per mole to the molar volume, normalized by Avogadro's number. It is shown experimentally that linear relationships exist between the κ-value and both density and seismic velocity.