Flow and Reactions in Permeable Rocks - Hardcover

Phillips, O. M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521380987 ISBN 13: 9780521380980

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

The formation of ore deposits and the patterns of mineral alteration in rocks frequently involves the transport of large amounts of dissolved solids, sometimes transiently, but often over long periods of time. Knowing or suspecting this, we logically seek to resolve several questions: What are the large- and small-scale patterns of flow in geological materials? What is the direction and rate of flow in a given structure? What factors control the rates of chemical reaction within the rocks? What governs the dissolution of materials in some regions and their deposition in other areas that, over eons, leads to the distribution of minerals we see today? The search for answers to these issues involves a combination of approaches and subjects that includes geochemistry, structural geology, and fluid mechanics. In Flow and Reactions in Permeable Rocks, Dr. Owen Phillips provides the first book-length work that connects these different fields of study and applies them to the problem of flow and flow-controlled reaction in rocks. The author begins by specifying the general physical and chemical principles that govern fluid flow and chemical reactions in rocks. He then develops the theoretical underpinnings for a variety of different patterns of flow and for the three basic types of flow-controlled reaction: fronts, gradient reactions, and reactions in mixing zones. In the next chapter he explores some conditions for stability and instability in fluid flow, for instance the conditions under which one state of flow pattern spontaneously evolves into another. Finally, Dr. Phillips describes in detail the two great driving forces of large-scale fluid circulation in rocks: pressure differences and thermal convection. Typical geological examples are given and, wherever possible, compared to numerical results or field observations. The analytical developments require some familiarity with college-level mathematics, but derivations are easy to follow or may even be skipped by the trusting reader.

About this title

Review

"This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the field of flow through porous media and phenomena allied to, or modified by, such flows. The basic equations are spelled out very clearly, and the surrounding verbal descriptions of what is going on from a physical/chemical perspective are equally good...." Ian Lerche, Geophysics (cont'd in next quote)

"...the strength of the volume lies in the last five chapters. We are treated to a rich feast of applications ranging from chemical reactions on gradient flows and mixing zones, through fluid instabilities and overturning problems, through trapping and migration of hydrocarbons and mineralization consequences, to thermally driven convection and its impact on diagenesis, cementation, dissolution, and concentration gradient reactions. Quite an excellent and mentally filling repast....would make for an excellent year-long graduate course in quantitative geodynamic processes....This book provides a great wealth of techniques for handling problems associated with subsurface flow, and excellent insights into methods, procedures, and basic understanding. I could only wish that all books (including my own) could be written with such clarity of thought and word craft." Ian Lerche, Geophysics

"...a truly good book that I can recommend to graduate students and researchers seriously interested in understanding rock-fluid interactions and the patterns that result." Bernard P. Boudreau, Geochimica et Cosmochimica

"...an extremely well-written and thought-provoking book, which contains many results not previously published. It is likely to have considerable influence on future research." Herbert E. Huppert, Journal of Fluid Mechanics

"...summarizes flow and reaction fundamentals and applications of these fundamentals in subsurface systems. In addition to its function as a textbook, this monograph will also be useful for self-study or as a general background reference for those in related fields." Cass T. Miller, American Scientist

"...will undoubtedly establish itself as a core text for both students and researchers." Lev Truskinovsky, PAGEOPH

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521380987
• ISBN 13: 9780521380980
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296