Precipitation patterns formed by self-organizing processes in porous media

Barge, Laura M.; Hammond, Douglas; Chan, Marjorie A.; Potter, S. L.; Petruska, John; Nealson, Kenneth H.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-8123.2010.00324.x

Cited by 17 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Numerical simulations indicate that the development of periodic self-organized nucleation centers occurs through Liesegangtype double-diffusion of iron and oxygen (Ortoleva 1984(Ortoleva , 1994a(Ortoleva , 1994bChan et al 2007). Laboratory bench testing of diffusing chemicals (Barge 2009, Barge et al 2011; also see later discussion) also shows self-organized precipitates. This nearest-neighbor spacing in ferric oxide concretions arises from self-organized nucleation of cement as reactants diffuse through the host rock in three-dimensional reaction fronts .…”

Section: Physical Characteristics and Field Settingsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Laboratory simulations of self-organized mineral precipitation have been performed in various media, ranging from gels (Henisch 2005, and references therein) to sand-like media that more closely simulate natural sedimentary environments (Barge 2009, Barge et al 2011. Typically this experimental design consists of a column of diffusion medium (gel or sand) saturated with a fluid containing one reactive ion, and a concentrated solution containing another reactive ion is introduced at the column interface (Fig.…”

Section: Experimental Laboratory Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characteristics of Terrestrial Ferric Oxide Concretions and Implications for Mars

Chan

Potter

Bowen

et al. 2012

Sedimentary Geology of Mars

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Concretions are diagenetic products of cementation that establish significant records of groundwater flow through porous sedimentary deposits. Common spheroidal ferric oxide concretions form by diffusive coupled with advective mass transfer and share similar physical characteristics with hematite spherules from Meridiani Planum (Mars ''blueberries''), investigated by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Terrestrial concretions from the Jurassic Navajo Sandstone are not perfect analogs to Mars, particularly in terms of their geochemistry. However, the Navajo Sandstone contains exceptional examples that represent typical concretion characteristics from the geologic record. Both ancient and modern analogs provide information about concretion forming processes and their relationship to porosity and permeability, fluid flow events, subsequent weathering, and surficial reworking. Concretions on Earth possess variable mineralogies and form in a variety of lithologies in formations of nearly all geologic ages. Despite the prevalence of concretions, many unknowns exist, including their absolute ages and their precise nucleation and growth mechanisms. Some opportunities for future concretion research lie in three approaches: (1) New analytical techniques may show geochemical gradients and important textures reflecting biotic (role of bacteria) or abiotic origins. (2) Concretion modeling can determine important formation mechanisms. Sensitivity tests and simulations for different parameters can help show the magnitude of influence for different input factors. (3) New age-dating methods that remove preservational bias and expand the supply of datable material may yield quantitative limits to the timing of diagenetic events beyond what relative cross-cutting relationships can show. The discovery of hematite spherules on Mars has driven efforts to better understand both terrestrial examples of ferric oxide concretions and the competing mechanisms that produce spheroidal geometries. The integration of geologic and planetary sciences continues to encourage new findings in the quest to understand the role of water on Mars as well as the tantalizing possibility that extraterrestrial life is associated with mineral records of watery environments.

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Section: Physical Characteristics and Field Settingsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Experimental Laboratory Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Terrestrial Ferric Oxide Concretions and Implications for Mars

Chan

Potter

Bowen

et al. 2012

Sedimentary Geology of Mars

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“…Beitler et al (2005) proposed that the iron-oxide concretions are primary precipitates formed during the mixing of iron-bearing, reducing waters and oxygenated meteoric waters. This hypothesis guided field-based work , bench experiments (Chan et al, 2007;Barge et al, 2011), and iron isotope studies (Chan et al, 2006;Busigny and Dauphas, 2007). Loope et al (2010Loope et al ( , 2011Loope et al ( , 2012 and Kettler et al (2011) reinterpreted the concretions as the altered (oxidized) remains of precursor concretions cemented by ferrous carbonate minerals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Under reducing conditions, closely spaced, sideritecemented concretions nucleated and grew to form an amalgamated mass. In the laboratory, Barge et al (2011) generated intergrown masses of analogous, self-organized spheroids cemented by silver chromate. We view their experiment as a reasonable demonstration of the first step in rind formation (precipitation of primary, intergrown spheroids-in the Navajo case, these were composed of the reduced iron mineral, siderite).…”

Section: Interpretation Of Rinded Concretionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The footprints of ancient CO2-driven flow systems: Ferrous carbonate concretions below bleached sandstone

Loope

Kettler

2015

Geosphere

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Iron-rich carbonates and the oxidized remains of former carbonates (iron-oxide concretions) underlie bleached Navajo Sandstone over large portions of southern Utah. Iron in the carbonates came from hematite rims on sand grains in the upper Navajo that were dissolved when small quantities of methane accumulated beneath the sealing Carmel Formation. As a second buoyant gas (CO 2 derived from Oligocene-Miocene magmas ) reached the seal and migrated up dip, it dissolved in the underlying water, enhancing the solution's density. This water carried the released ferrous iron and the methane downward. Carbonates precipitated when the descending, reducing water degassed along fractures. The distribution of a broad array of iron-rich features made recognition of the extent of the ancient flow systems possible. Although siderite is not preserved, dense, rhombic, mm-scale, iron-oxide pseudomorphs after ferrous carbonates are common. Distinctive patterns of iron oxide were also produced when large (cm-scale), poikilotopic carbonate crystals with multiple iron-rich zones dissolved in oxidizing waters. Rhombic pseudomorphs are found in the central cores of small spheroids and large (meter-scale), irregular concretions that are defined by thick, tightly cemented rinds of iron-oxide-cemented sandstone. The internal structure and distribution of these features reveal their origins as ironcarbonate concretions that formed within a large-scale flow system that was altered dramatically during Neogene uplift of the Colorado Plateau. With rise of the Plateau, the iron-carbonate concretions passed upward from reducing formation water to shallow, oxidizing groundwater flowing parallel to modern drainages. Finally they passed into the vadose zone. Absolute dating of different portions of these widespread concretions could thus reveal uplift rates for a large portion of the Plateau. Iron-rich masses in other sedimentary rocks may reveal flow systems with similar histories.

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“…One interesting aspect of far-from-equilibrium chemical and geochemical systems is that the presence of chemical gradients between fluid flows can lead to patterning or self-organization in abiotic mineral precipitates, whose morphology and/or distribution may reflect past chemical and/or environmental conditions [15][16][17]. Well-studied geological examples of self-organized mineral precipitates include the formation of periodic Liesegang banding and self-nucleating concretions, both of which can form precipitates within a porous matrix (such as sandstone).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-assembling iron oxyhydroxide/oxide tubular structures: laboratory-grown and field examples from Rio Tinto

et al. 2016

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Rio Tinto in southern Spain has become of increasing astrobiological significance, in particular for its similarity to environments on early Mars. We present evidence of tubular structures from sampled terraces in the stream bed at the source of the river, as well as ancient, now dry, terraces. This is the first reported finding of tubular structures in this particular environment. We propose that some of these structures could be formed through self-assembly via an abiotic mechanism involving templated precipitation around a fluid jet, a similar mechanism to that commonly found in so-called chemical gardens. Laboratory experiments simulating the formation of self-assembling iron oxyhydroxide tubes via chemical garden/chemobrionic processes form similar structures. Fluid-mechanical scaling analysis demonstrates that the proposed mechanism is plausible. Although the formation of tube structures is not itself a biosignature, the iron mineral oxidation gradients across the tube walls in laboratory and field examples may yield information about energy gradients and potentially habitable environments.

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Precipitation patterns formed by self-organizing processes in porous media

Cited by 17 publications

References 37 publications

Characteristics of Terrestrial Ferric Oxide Concretions and Implications for Mars

Characteristics of Terrestrial Ferric Oxide Concretions and Implications for Mars

The footprints of ancient CO2-driven flow systems: Ferrous carbonate concretions below bleached sandstone

Self-assembling iron oxyhydroxide/oxide tubular structures: laboratory-grown and field examples from Rio Tinto

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