Having looked at recent developments in diagenesis from the point of view of some of the ongoing conceptual controversies in the field, we now turn to new tools and analytical procedures that have been developed at least in part to address these controversies. Many of these tools will also find applications in other types of diagenetic studies, particularly those related to the prediction of groundwater quality.
Two general approaches have been taken: (1) careful analysis of complex populations of empirical observations to explain the observed porosity and permeability trends, and (2) forward modeling studies designed to predict porosity and permeability trends based on calculations of fluid flow, fluid-rock interactions, and burial history. In many settings, there are adequate data to develop perfectly reliable empirical models for porosity and permeability. The challenge is to understand the diagenetic processes well enough to develop adequate predictive models for data-limited areas. As the above controversies illustrate, we are still a long way from reaching this goal. The following discussion summarizes some of the tools that are now being developed to help address the challenges associated with both improving our empirical estimates and developing reliable forward models.