Heterogeneity is present in geological sedimentary structures at all scales from pore to basin, and its distribution has an impact on transport processes such as heat and fluid flow. The rock masses at any scale need to be characterized by their effective properties at that scale, based on the individual characteristics of the heterogeneous porous medium. The effective thermal and hydraulic conductivity of sediments characterized by a stochastic distribution of heterogeneity is studied using an inverse approach based on numerical experiments. The simulations, covering a large range of conductivity contrasts, are carried out for actual core-scale cases of shale clasts in a sand matrix, and on a diagrammatic cross-section through a clastic sedimentary group at the basin scale. The effective conductivity depends primarily on the heterogeneity fraction and on the conductivity contrast between heterogeneities and the embedding matrix, a dependency which can be described by a generalized weighted mean model. This model is better suited to estimate the effective conductivity at any scale than other models like the self-consistent, or any of the arithmetic. geometric or harmonic averages. The effective conductivity has an anisotropic character although the individual components are homogeneous and isotropic. The variation in effective conductivity is significant even for small conductivity contrasts, like in heat flow processes, and exhibits an asymptotic behaviour for large conductivity contrasts characteristic of fluid flow processes. The effective conductivity has a second-order dependence on such heterogeneity characteristics as shape, aspect ratio, orientation, and distribution. Depending on these characteristics, the bounds of effective conductivity values can be narrowed further from the extreme bounds expressed by the arithmetic and harmonic averages.
