Fracture flow due to hydrothermally induced quartz growth

Abstract Mineral precipitations are a common feature and limitation of initially open, permeable rock fractures by forming sealing structures or secondary roughness in open voids. Hence, the objective of this numerical study is the evaluation of hydraulic properties of fractures sealed by hydrothermally induced needle and compact quartz growth. Phase-field models of progressive syntaxial and idiomorphic quartz growth are implemented into a fluid flow simulation solving the Navier–Stokes equation. Flow simulations for both quartz types indicate an obvious correlation between changes in permeability, fracture properties (e.g. aperture, relative roughness and porosity) and crystal growth behav…