The importance of conceptual models in the reactive transport simulation of oxygen ingress in sparsely fractured crystalline rock

MacQuarrie, Kerry T.B.; Mayer, K. Ulrich; Jin, B.; Spiessl, Sabine M.

doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2009.10.007

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…At the other extreme from studies treating the entire rock column as a continuum are studies that have modeled processes within a single fracture within a rock matrix (Steefel and Lichtner, ; Robinson et al , ; Steefel and Lichtner, , ; MacQuarrie and Mayer, ; Pacheco and Alencao, ; Spiessl et al , ; MacQuarrie et al , ). For example, a similar model for a system with parallel equidistant fractures was considered (DePaolo, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weathering and erosion of fractured bedrock systems

Lebedeva

Brantley

2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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We explore the contribution of fractures (joints) in controlling the rate of weathering advance for a low-porosity rock by using methods of homogenization to create averaged weathering equations. The rate of advance of the weathering front can be expressed as the same rate observed in non-fractured media (or in an individual block) divided by the volume fraction of nonfractured blocks in the fractured parent material. In the model, the parent has fractures that are filled with a more porous material that contains only inert or completely weathered material. The low-porosity rock weathers by reaction-transport processes. As observed in field systems, the model shows that the weathering advance rate is greater for the fractured as compared to the analogous non-fractured system because the volume fraction of blocks is < 1. The increase in advance rate is attributed both to the increase in weathered material that accompanies higher fracture density, and to the increase in exposure of surface of low-porosity rock to reaction-transport. For constant fracture aperture, the weathering advance rate increases when the fracture spacing decreases. Equations describing weathering advance rate are summarized in the 'List of selected equations'.If erosion is imposed at a constant rate, the weathering systems with fracture-bounded bedrock blocks attain a steady state. In the erosional transport-limited regime, bedrock blocks no longer emerge at the air-regolith boundary because they weather away. In the weathering-limited (or kinetic) regime, blocks of various size become exhumed at the surface and the average size of these exposed blocks increases with the erosion rate. For convex hillslopes, the block size exposed at the surface increases downslope. This model can explain observations of exhumed rocks weathering in the Luquillo mountains of Puerto Rico. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weathering and erosion of fractured bedrock systems

Lebedeva

Brantley

2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…The mass transfer and the form of redox fronts associated with diffusion and fluid flow in rock fractures was investigated by analytical modeling [ Grisak and Pickens , ; Grisak et al ., ; Tang et al ., ; Sudicky and Frind , ; Rubin et al ., ; Park et al ., ; Wörman et al ., ; Houseworth , ; Sidborn and Neretnieks , ; Houseworth et al ., ; Rajaram and Arshadi , ], experimental work [ Hölttä et al ., ; Trivedi and Babadagli , ; Hatiboglu and Babadagli , ], and numerical modeling [ Steefel et al ., ; Spiessl et al ., ; MacQuarrie et al ., ; Vujevic and Graf , ; Watanabe and Kolditz , ]. Ortoleva et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the last three decades, the study of reactive transport in fractured rocks has attracted a large interest in the environmental and physical sciences, both in interdisciplinary theoretical and applied fields [Bryant et al, 2001]. In particular, research focused on transport in low-porosity rocks hosting nuclear waste repositories [Tang et al, 1981;Sudicky and Frind, 1982;Lever and Bradbury, 1985;Banwart et al, 1999;Smellie and Karlsson, 1999;Park et al, 2001;MacQuarrie and Mayer, 2005;H€ oltt€ a et al, 2008;Dideriksen et al, 2010;MacQuarrie et al, 2010;Hartley et al, 2015;Tsang et al, 2015]. Furthermore, redox front characteristics help to understand pollutant transport in porous [Cribbin et al, 2014] or fractured rocks [Akagawa et al, 2006].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mass transfer and the form of redox fronts associated with diffusion and fluid flow in rock fractures was investigated by analytical modeling Tang et al, 1981;Sudicky and Frind, 1982;Rubin et al, 1997;Park et al, 2001;W€ orman et al, 2003;Houseworth, 2006;Neretnieks, 2007, 2008;Houseworth et al, 2013;Rajaram and Arshadi, 2016], experimental work [H€ oltt€ a et al, 2008;Trivedi and Babadagli, 2009;Hatiboglu and Babadagli, 2010], and numerical modeling [Steefel et al, 2005;Spiessl et al, 2007;MacQuarrie et al, 2010;Vujevic and Graf, 2015;Watanabe and Kolditz, 2015]. Ortoleva et al [1987aOrtoleva et al [ , 1987b theoretically studied the physical processes associated with redox-infiltration fronts and their instabilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of analytical diffusion models to outcrop observations: Implications for mass transport by fluid flow through fractures

Antonellini

Mollema

Sole

2017

Water Resources Research

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A pavement outcrop with excellent exposure of spatial relationships among joints, veins, small offset normal faults, and associated alteration halos (redox fronts) provided an opportunity to compare predictions of analytical models for reaction front propagation in a fracture‐matrix system with a real‐field situation. The results have important implications for fluid flow and pollutant transport through a fractured medium. The alteration halos observed suggest that all joints of different sets and most small faults are conductive to meteoric water at shallow depth. On the other hand, veins are local barriers to mass transport by diffusion. By using petrologic and petrophysical data, analytical modeling, and the width of the alteration halos, it was possible to estimate when the fracture network was open to fluid flow. The inferred time for fluid flow and diffusion through the fracture network is sensitive to the porosity n of the rock matrix used in the analytical solutions: 2200 ± 500 years with n = 0.08, 4600 ± 900 years with n = 0.05, and 16,000 ± 4000 with n = 0.02. The second and third age determinations are consistent with the landscape evolution of the area since the end of the last Wűrmian ice age and with the timing required to fill the fractures observed in outcrop. We suggest that analytical modeling is an important tool for the determination of transport and reaction time scales in fractured formations where it is constrained by a robust petrophysical and chemical properties data set.

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“…Birgersson and Neretnieks, 1990;Gimmi et al, 1997;Vilks et al, 2003;Andersson et al, 2004), on modelling using groundwater and (in parts) mineralogical data (e.g. Shapiro, 2001;MacQuarrie and Mayer, 2005;Molinero and Samper, 2006;Sidborn and Neretnieks, 2008;Spiessl et al, 2008;MacQuarrie et al, 2010) or on modelling hydrothermal and metamorphic systems using rock data (e.g. de Paolo, 2006 and references therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%