BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF JAPAN
Online ISSN : 2186-490X
Print ISSN : 1346-4272
ISSN-L : 1346-4272
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Review
  • Osamu NISHIZAWA, Yoshito NAKASHIMA, Tetsuya KOGURE, Yi ZHANG, Ziqiu XU ...
    2026Volume 77Issue 2 Pages 29-69
    Published: June 09, 2026
    Released on J-STAGE: June 11, 2026
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Many types of geofluids exist in the Earth's crust. Geofluids can occur as immiscible two-phase fluids, such as oil and brine or gas and brine. In this review, we present newly identified mechanisms of immiscible fluid flow based on recent advancements in X-ray and computer technologies. Historically, immiscible geofluids have been studied in association with resources such as groundwater, petroleum, and natural gas; however, the research field is also important from a scientific perspective. In recent years, CCS (carbon capture and storage) has been established as an effective tool for mitigating climate change caused by anthropogenic CO2. This has led to experimental studies on the immiscible fluid flow of brine and supercritical CO2 mixtures in porous rocks, in which wetting and non-wetting characteristics control the fluid flow. Water or brine are wetting fluids, and oil or gas (including supercritical gas) are non-wetting fluids in the case of most geologic solids. Wetting results in capillary pressure and controls the flow of immiscible fluids. Rock permeability has previously been considered a primary control on fluid flow; however, recent studies have reported phenomena in immiscible fluid flow (e.g., snap-off and viscous fingering) that cannot be explained by rock permeability alone.

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