Argillaceous (clay-rich) host formations for radioactive waste geological repositories are extensively researched for their capability to decrease the hydraulic conductivity of fractures over time (i.e. self-sealing). This self-sealing behavior is beneficial in the context of radioactive repositories as the excavation of these spaces unavoidably induce fractures in a region called the excavation damaged zone (EDZ), allowing for radioactive particles to leak into the surrounding environment and groundwater. Despite knowing the mechanisms for self-sealing (e.g. swelling of clay minerals), more research is needed into the complexities of self-sealing to fully understand and effectively utilize it widely. To facilitate research of swelling in induced fractures, a quantified method of fracture characterization using morphological descriptors is developed to provide insight into the morphological state of the fracture surface and its influence on the self-sealing capacities of argillaceous rocks. This was carried out by identifying morphological descriptors of a rough surface and their relation to roughness, as it pertains to macroscopic and microscopic roughness. A dynamic script was developed capable of: analyzing and quantifying morphological descriptors of roughness in 2 and 3-dimensions, calculating the surface area of a rough surface, and calculating hydraulic conductivities (kx and ky) of a discrete fracture. This method was tested using two samples of Opalinus Clay (OPA) from the Mont Terri underground research laboratory (URL) in Switzerland. Furthermore, derived data of heterogeneous morphology, along with surface area and hydraulic conductivity, is used to discuss the limitations and constraints of the developed method and compare 2-dimensional versus 3-dimensional morphological analysis to determine what combination of analysis fully captures the breadth of morphological information. It was determined that the morphological descriptors of amplitude, amplitude density, and the bearing area curve (BAC) are suitable descriptors to define the microscopic and macroscopic roughness of a rough surface, where both forms of roughness are defined in the context of influence from local maximums (asperities) and local minimums (valleys) of the surface. Comparison of the 2 and 3-dimensional analyses of these morphological descriptors shows that a combination of the 2D BAC, 3D amplitude, and 2D amplitude densities both fully capture the breadth of morphological information and provide an easier means of interpretation. Using Delaunay triangulation on the surfaces of both OPA samples, the calculated upper and lower bounds of surface area for sample 1 is: 2267.37mm2 and 942.09mm2 and is: 2377.64mm2 and 959.73mm2 for sample 2. Compared to the planar surface area of each OPA sample analyzed, this corresponds to an 847 - 2039% increase for OPA sample 1 and a 998 - 2399% increase in surface area for OPA sample 2. The calculated hydraulic conductivities kx and ky for sample 1 is: 1.78×10−7 m/s and 7.75×10−7 m/s and is: 8.01×10−9 m/s and 2.1×10−7 m/s for sample 2. This is compared to the hydraulic conductivity of the Opalinus clay material, which is 2×10−13 m/s. Future research into discrete fracture characterization using morphological descriptors should focus on increasing the computational efficiency of the existing code, improving the surface area calculations, and transforming the matrices of data into one points of data for easier comparison of discrete fractures across multiple samples. In doing so, it is hoped that this small contribution will aid in understanding morphology influence on swelling development in induced fractures in argillaceous geomaterial.