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Detailed Reference Information |
Liang, Y. and Guo, Y. (2003). Reactive dissolution instability driven by chemical diffusion with applications to harzburgite reactive dissolution. Geophysical Research Letters 30: doi: 10.1029/2003GL017687. issn: 0094-8276. |
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The morphological stability of a mineralogically sharp and planar dissolution front separating rock A from rock B during reactive dissolution in a multicomponent system was examined using a linear stability analysis. In the absence of melt flow, the underlining cause for the instability is chemical diffusion in the melt. The destabilizing chemical diffusion gives rise to a new class of morphological instability in which the maximum growth rate of the perturbation corresponds to the minimum wavelength of the porous system that is on the order of a few grain sizes. On the geological outcrop scale a chemical diffusion induced unstable dissolution front separating two rock units would appear diffuse. The diffuse boundaries between the harzburgite and dunite observed in ophiolites may be a result of such dissolution instability. When chemical diffusion is stabilizing the wavelength of the instability is larger and sharp lithological boundary can be preserved. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Mineralogy and Petrology, Igneous petrology, Tectonophysics, Physics of magma and magma bodies, Volcanology, Magma migration |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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