Spontaneous potentials occur when two aqueous solutions with different ionic concentrations are placed in contact through a porous, semi-permeable membrane.
The potential opposite shales is called the baseline, and typically shifts only slowly over the depth of the borehole.
Mud invasion into the permeable formation can cause the deflections in the SP curve to be rounded off and to reduce the amplitude of thin beds.
[2] A smaller wellbore will cause, like a mud filtrate invasion, the deflections on the SP curve to be rounded off and decrease the amplitude opposite thin beds, while a larger diameter wellbore has the opposite effect.
If the salinity of the mud filtrate is greater than formation water the SP currents will flow in opposite direction.