Understanding Porosity: Well-Sorted Gravel vs Silty Sandstone
Which material is likely to have greater porosity: well-sorted gravel or silty sandstone?
a. Well-sorted gravel
b. Silty sandstone
Answer:
b. Silty sandstone
Porosity refers to the percentage of void space in a material, indicating its ability to hold fluids. Well-sorted gravel typically has larger and more uniform grain sizes, resulting in lower porosity compared to a silty sandstone that contains a mixture of sand and silt-sized grains.
The presence of fine-grained particles, such as silt-sized grains in a sandstone, can contribute to higher porosity due to their smaller size and ability to fill the void spaces between larger grains. Therefore, a silty sandstone is more likely to exhibit greater porosity compared to a well-sorted gravel.