2017/11/30 by David W. Rees Jones, Richard F. Katz · 17 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advection #Bifurcation #CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions #Channelized #Compaction #Flow (mathematics) #Geological and Geochemical Analysis #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Instability #Permeability (electromagnetism) #Porosity #Porous medium #Pressure gradient #physics.flu-dyn #physics.geo-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/jfm.2018.524
published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics 852, 5-36 (Cambridge University Press) · 30 pages, 10 figures. Revised manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics
openalex created_date 2017/12/04 · openalex publication_date 2018/08/02 · arxiv created 2019/04/11 · arxiv updated 2019/04/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Certain geological features have been interpreted as evidence of channelized magma flow in the mantle, which is a compacting porous medium. Aharonov et al. ( J. Geophys. Res. , vol. 100 (B10), 1995, pp. 20433–20450) developed a simple model of reactive porous flow and numerically analysed its instability to channels. The instability relies on magma advection against a chemical solubility gradient and the porosity-dependent permeability of the porous host rock. We extend the previous analysis by systematically mapping out the parameter space. Crucially, we augment numerical solutions with asymptotic analysis to better understand the physical controls on the instability. We derive scalings for the critical conditions of the instability and analyse the associated bifurcation structure. We also determine scalings for the wavelengths and growth rates of the channel structures that emerge. We obtain quantitative theories for and a physical understanding of, first, how advection or diffusion over the reactive time scale sets the horizontal length scale of channels and, second, the role of viscous compaction of the host rock, which also affects the vertical extent of channelized flow. These scalings allow us to derive estimates of the dimensions of emergent channels that are consistent with the geologic record.