(De)hydration Front Propagation Into Zero‐Permeability Rock

• Published in: Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems : G3 Vol. 25; no. 9
• Main Authors: Schmalholz, Stefan M., Khakimova, Lyudmila, Podladchikov, Yury, Bras, Erwan, Yamato, Philippe, John, Timm
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.09.2024; AGU and the Geochemical Society; Wiley
• Subjects: Deep water; Deformation; Dehydration; Earth Sciences; Fluid flow; Fronts; Hydrates; Hydration; Hydrologic cycle; Hydrological cycle; hydro‐mechanical‐chemical model; Mathematical models; numerical modeling; Numerical simulations; Permeability; Plate tectonics; Porosity; Pressure gradients; Propagation; reaction front; Rock; Rock deformation; Rocks; Sciences of the Universe; Serpentinite; Tectonics; Thermodynamics
• ISSN: 1525-2027; 1525-2027
• DOI: 10.1029/2023GC011422

Hydration and dehydration reactions play pivotal roles in plate tectonics and the deep water cycle, yet many facets of (de)hydration reactions remain unclear. Here, we study (de)hydration reactions where associated solid density changes are predominantly balanced by porosity changes, with solid rock deformation playing a minor role. We propose a hypothesis for three scenarios of (de)hydration front propagation and test it using one‐dimensional hydro‐mechanical‐chemical models. Our models couple porous fluid flow, solid rock volumetric deformation, and (de)hydration reactions described by equilibrium thermodynamics. We couple our transport model with reactions through fluid pressure: the fluid pressure gradient governs porous flow and the fluid pressure magnitude controls the reaction boundary. Our model validates the hypothesized scenarios and shows that the change in solid density across the reaction boundary, from lower to higher pressure, dictates whether hydration or dehydration fronts propagate: decreasing solid density causes dehydration front propagation in the direction opposite to fluid flow while increasing solid density enables both hydration and dehydration front propagation in the same direction as fluid flow. Our models demonstrate that reactions can drive the propagation of (de)hydration fronts, characterized by sharp porosity fronts, into a viscous medium with zero porosity and permeability; such propagation is impossible without reactions, as porosity fronts become trapped. We apply our model to serpentinite dehydration reactions with positive and negative Clapeyron slopes and granulite hydration (eclogitization). We use the results of systematic numerical simulations to derive a new equation that allows estimating the transient, reaction‐induced permeability of natural (de)hydration zones. Plain Language Summary We investigate reactions of hydration, which is the incorporation of water into a rock, and dehydration, which is the liberation of water from a rock, with simple mathematical models. These reactions are critical in understanding processes like plate tectonics, but many aspects of how hydration or dehydration fronts move through a rock are unclear. Our research focuses on reactions where changes in density are mostly balanced by changes in pore space, termed porosity, rather than the deformation of the solid rock. We developed mathematical models that combine fluid flow, rock deformation, and hydration/dehydration reactions. We derived simple equations that predict changes in porosity during hydration and dehydration, even when the solid rock deforms simultaneously. We found that whether a rock hydrates or dehydrates depends on how its solid density changes with increasing pressure during the reaction. By systematically studying our model, we discovered that the speed of hydration and dehydration is not influenced by the interval of fluid pressure over which the reaction occurs or the relationship between porosity and permeability. We present an equation that can be used to estimate permeability from natural (de)hydration zones. Key Points (De)hydration fronts propagate into zero‐permeability rock if the solid density of the reactant is smaller than the one of the product External fluid flux compensates the imbalance between fluid generated/consumed by reaction and fluid needed to fill generated porosity Results of systematic numerical simulations allow estimating the transient, reaction‐induced permeability of natural (de)hydration zones