<p>When a saturated rock sample is rapidly extracted from a place with high water pressure, as happens in oil drilling or deep mining, the water is trapped inside the rock at high pressure, trying to escape.</p>
<p>Does it makes the rock brittle or easy to carve? Does the rock break between crystals, or the crystal themselves become softer/brittle?</p>
<p>I'm interested in hard rocks like granite or basalt, not sedimentary rocks.</p>
<p>Where can I read about it? I searched, but I do not know the terminology, so I found nothing.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-21T01:45:53.190Z
I doubt any "rocks " are extracted during petroleum drilling. What comes up in the mud is fine gravel and ,silt.  Core samples are something taken from possible ore bodies not as deep. My guess is not much deeper than a thousand feet, Longyear is a major producer of core type drilling equipment.
blacksmith37
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-21T01:54:17.100Z
@blacksmith37: it's not unusual for core samples to be taken from mineral deposits that are thousands of **meters** deep. Depending on circumstances, the drilling rig can either be in the surface or underground, in an active deep mine. For determining orebody reserves, core sampling is preferred.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-22T01:08:35.907Z
The Longyear site claims they can get to 3,240 ft ,max. Being an ad , I expect it is optimistic. Much less depth than the question seems to be asking about.
blacksmith37
<water><rocks><pressure><drilling>
Are rocks extracted from deep drilling, brittle due to pore pressure?
kefip
# Are rocks extracted from deep drilling, brittle due to pore pressure?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-19)

When a saturated rock sample is rapidly extracted from a place with high water pressure, as happens in oil drilling or deep mining, the water is trapped inside the rock at high pressure, trying to escape.

Does it makes the rock brittle or easy to carve? Does the rock break between crystals, or the crystal themselves become softer/brittle?

I'm interested in hard rocks like granite or basalt, not sedimentary rocks.

Where can I read about it? I searched, but I do not know the terminology, so I found nothing.

**Tags:** water, rocks, pressure, drilling

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I doubt any "rocks " are extracted during petroleum drilling. What comes up in the mud is fine gravel and ,silt.  Core samples are something taken from possible ore bodies not as deep. My guess is not much deeper than a thousand feet, Longyear is a major producer of core type drilling equipment.  
> **username_2**: @username_1: it's not unusual for core samples to be taken from mineral deposits that are thousands of **meters** deep. Depending on circumstances, the drilling rig can either be in the surface or underground, in an active deep mine. For determining orebody reserves, core sampling is preferred.  
> **username_1**: The Longyear site claims they can get to 3,240 ft ,max. Being an ad , I expect it is optimistic. Much less depth than the question seems to be asking about.  

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