Determination of physical properties of carbonate rocks from P-wave velocity

Velocity, density, porosity, void ratio, water absorption by weight and P-wave velocity tests were conducted on 14 different carbonate rocks. Strong correlations between P-wave velocity and all the physical properties of the rock were found. The relations follow a linear function. The equations developed were compared with others in the literature. Although it appears that the physical properties of the tested carbonate rocks can be estimated from P-wave velocity, the validity of the derived equations must be checked for other carbonate rocks as the equations given are likely to be specific to the test method and vary with rock type, degree of saturation and presence of bedding planes.