Research and systematic student training in principles of both structure and diagenesis is the key to unlocking scientific knowledge about postdepositional processes in sedimentary basins.

The Structural Diagenesis Initiative—SDI—promotes a merger of these disciplines and a new training paradigm in sedimentary geochemistry and structural geology.

The initial focus of the SDI is on processes that systematically create and destroy fracture porosity and that influence fracture size and spatial distribution. Fluid flow in fractured rock is an increasingly central issue in recovering water and hydrocarbon supplies and geothermal energy, in predicting flow of pollutants underground, in engineering structures, and in understanding large-scale crustal behaviour. Our cross-disciplinary research is providing fundamental advances in our understanding of how the diversity of natural structural patterns evolves.

The Structural Diagenesis Initiative effort is supported by Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, Grant No. DE-SC0022968, ‘Reconstructing and Predicting Fracture Pattern Evolution‘. Work from 2003 to 2019 was supported by DE-FG02-03ER15430, ‘Predicting Fracture Porosity Evolution in Sandstone‘.

Role of chemistry in fracture | A comprehensive review of the role of chemistry in fracture pattern development and of prospects for future research advances published in Reviews of Geophysics. | view open-access paper | blog

Connecting SDI science with Society | An overview of SDI science and goals written for the general public was recently published in Scientia. | For PodCast  | For the web version | For a printable version  | For twitter | For Facebook

Description of UT fracture program | An article in the JSG Newsletter describes the history and accomplishments of our fracture research program. Read the article

Need for new structural diagenesis training paradigm | A 2010 Journal of Structural Geology paper makes the case for creating a new cross-cultural training and research effort. | view paper  | more info | 2019 BEG News item

From a practical standpoint this research is leading to better predictions of fracture pattern attributes in the subsurface where sparse sampling is the rule.

Grant DE-FG02-03ER15430 Predicting Fracture Porosity Evolution in Sandstone

Central to the success of the initiative is work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Grants Nos. DE-SC0022968 and DE-FG02-03ER15430.

The Jackson School of Geosciences and the Cockrell School of Engineering are supporting an already strong cross disciplinary and cross unit program in fundamental and applied fracture and rock-property evolution research.

Results are reviewed by industry representatives of the Fracture Research and Application Consortium that has been funded since 1998 by industry.

The SDI Thesis and Dissertation page lists current student research topics as well as past graduate student and postdoctoral fellow projects and where students and postdoctoral fellows went after their time in the program. More about the program is listed under background information, publications and software. See FRAC Google Scholar link

Collaboration across The University of Texas at Austin

The Structural Diagenesis Initiative is a collaboration that includes researchers and students from the Cockrell School of Engineering Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering and from the Jackson School of Geosciences Bureau of Economic Geology and Department of Geological Sciences.

More information about the collaboration can be found here:

Cooperating Departments & Research Units

Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences