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Reactive-infiltration instabilities in rocks. Fracture dissolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2012

Piotr Szymczak  and
Anthony J. C. Ladd
Piotr Szymczak*
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Hoża 69, 00-618, Warsaw, Poland
Anthony J. C. Ladd
Affiliation:
Chemical Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-6005, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

A reactive fluid dissolving the surface of a uniform fracture will trigger an instability in the dissolution front, leading to spontaneous formation of pronounced well-spaced channels in the surrounding rock matrix. Although the underlying mechanism is similar to the wormhole instability in porous rocks there are significant differences in the physics, due to the absence of a steadily propagating reaction front. In previous work we have described the geophysical implications of this instability in regard to the formation of long conduits in soluble rocks. Here we describe a more general linear stability analysis, including axial diffusion, transport-limited dissolution, nonlinear kinetics, and a finite-length system.

JFM classification

Interfacial Flows (free surface): Fingering instability Geophysical and Geological Flows: Geophysical and Geological Flows Low-Reynolds-number flows: Porous media
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 702 , 10 July 2012 , pp. 239 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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