Claudio Delle Piane

Program Leader
Multiscale Imaging
and Geological Processes

I am senior research scientist with background in geology, and since joining CSIRO in 2008 I have honed a wide and multidisciplinary scientific skillset. My research focus is on the quantitative characterization of rocks microfabric (shale, carbonates, coal and sandstones) and the link to their geological history and macroscopic physical and mechanical behaviour.

Experimental evaluation of rock properties and microstructures by means of multi-physics laboratory measurements combined with analytical methods including optical and electron microscopy, X-ray and neutron diffraction and cathodoluminescence. These techniques have been used to gain better understanding of rock/fluid interactions, elastic anisotropy, stress/permeability evolution, frequency dependent seismic attenuation in rocks and fault reactivation.

 

Professional experience

2015 – Present
Senior Research Scientist: CSIRO Energy

2019 – Present
Program Leader: Deep Earth Imaging Future Science Platform

2008-2015
Research Scientist: Geology, Geomechanics and Rock physics, CSIRO

2004-2007
Research Assistant: Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

2002-2003
Industrial Trainee: Institut Francaise du Petrole (IFP), Rueil Malmaison, France

 

Education

PhD Geology: Experimental deformation of carbonate rocks to large shear strains.
Geological Institute, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland (2007)

Masters of Earth Sciences (MSc.) (final mark 110/110)
Dissertation: Negative inversion tectonics in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece: structural interpretation of the AG10 well and analogue modelling
Department of Earth Sciences, Roma III University. Rome, Italy (2003)

 

Selected publications

Josh, M., Delle Piane, C., Esteban, L., Bourdet, J., Mayo, S., Pejcic, B., … & Dewhurst, D. N. (2019). Advanced laboratory techniques characterising solids, fluids and pores in shales. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering Volume 180, Pages 932-949.

Dewhurst, D. N., Delle Piane, C., Esteban, L., Sarout, J., Josh, M., Pervukhina, M., & Clennell, M. B. (2019). Microstructural, Geomechanical, and Petrophysical Characterization of Shale Caprocks. In Geological Carbon Storage: Subsurface Seals and Caprock Integrity, Geophysical Monograph 238, First Edition. Edited by Stéphanie Vialle, Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, and J. William Carey.

Delle Piane, C., Bourdet, J., Josh, M., Clennell, M. B., Rickard, W. D., Saunders, M., … & Raven, M. D. (2018). Organic matter network in post-mature Marcellus Shale: Effects on petrophysical properties. AAPG Bulletin, 102(11), 2305-2332.

Delle Piane, C., Piazolo, S., Timms, N. E., Luzin, V., Saunders, M., Bourdet, J., … & Verrall, M. (2018). Generation of amorphous carbon and crystallographic texture during low-temperature subseismic slip in calcite fault gouge. Geology, 46(2), 163-166.

Delle Piane, C., & Sarout, J. (2016). Effects of water and supercritical CO2 on the mechanical and elastic properties of Berea sandstone. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 55, 209-220.

Delle Piane, C., Almqvist, B. S., MacRae, C. M., Torpy, A., Mory, A. J., & Dewhurst, D. N. (2015). Texture and diagenesis of Ordovician shale from the Canning Basin, Western Australia: Implications for elastic anisotropy and geomechanical properties. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 59, 56-71.

Delle Piane, C., Sarout, J., Madonna, C., Saenger, E. H., Dewhurst, D. N., & Raven, M. (2014). Frequency-dependent seismic attenuation in shales: Experimental results and theoretical analysis. Geophysical Journal International, 198(1), 504-515.

Josh, M., Esteban, L., Delle Piane, C., Sarout, J., Dewhurst, D. N., & Clennell, M. B. (2012). Laboratory characterisation of shale properties. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 88, 107-124.

Delle Piane, C., Dewhurst, D. N., Siggins, A. F., & Raven, M. D. (2011). Stress-induced anisotropy in brine saturated shale. Geophysical Journal International, 184(2), 897-906.

Delle Piane, C., Burlini, L., Kunze, K., Brack, P., & Burg, J. P. (2008). Rheology of dolomite: Large strain torsion experiments and natural examples. Journal of Structural Geology, 30(6), 767-776.