Mark A. Hallworth

Convective dissolution of carbon dioxide in saline aquifers.

[1] Geological carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is a means of reducing anthropogenic emissions. Dissolution of CO2 into the brine, resulting in stable stratification, increases storage security. The dissolution rate is determined by convection in the brine driven by the increase of brine density with CO2 saturation. We present a new analogue fluid system that reproduces the convective behaviour of CO2‐enriched brine. Laboratory experiments and high‐resolution numerical simulations show that the convective flux scales with the Rayleigh number to the 4/5 power, in contrast with a classical linear relationship. A scaling argument for the convective flux incorporating lateral diffusion from downwelling plumes explains this nonlinear relationship for the convective flux, provides a physical picture of high Rayleigh number convection in a porous medium, and predicts the CO2 dissolution rates in CO2 accumulations. These estimates of the dissolution rate show that convective dissolution can play an important role in enhancing storage security. Citation: Neufeld,J.A.,M.A .Hesse,A.Riaz,M. A.H allworth, H. A. Tchelepi, and H. E. Huppert (2010), Convective dissolution of carbon dioxide in saline aquifers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L22404, doi:10.1029/2010GL044728.

Axisymmetric collapses of granular columns

Experimental observations of the collapse of initially vertical columns of small grains are presented. The experiments were performed mainly with dry grains of salt or sand, with some additional experiments using couscous, sugar or rice. Some of the experimental flows were analysed using high-speed video. There are three different flow regimes, dependent on the value of the aspect ratio a = hi/ri ,w herehi and ri are the initial height and radius of the granular column respectively. The differing forms of flow behaviour are described for each regime. In all cases a central, conically sided region of angle approximately 59 ◦ , corresponding to an aspect ratio of 1.7, remains undisturbed throughout the motion. The main experimental results for the final extent of the deposit and the time for emplacement are systematically collapsed in a quantitative way independent of any friction coefficients. Along with the kinematic data for the rate of spread of the front of the collapsing column, this is interpreted as indicating that frictional effects between individual grains in the bulk of the moving flow only play a role in the last instant of the flow, as it comes to an abrupt halt. For a< 1.7, the measured final runout radius, r∞, is related to the initial radius by r∞ = ri(1 + 1.24a); while for 1.7 <a the corresponding relationship is r∞ = ri(1 + 1.6a 1/2 ). The time, t∞, taken for the grains to reach r∞ is given by t∞ =3 (hi/g) 1/2 =3 (ri/g) 1/2 a 1/2 ,w hereg is the gravitational acceleration. The insights and conclusions gained from these experiments can be applied to a wide range of industrial and natural flows of concentrated particles. For example, the observation of the rapid deposition of the grains can help explain details of the emplacement of pyroclastic flows resulting from the explosive eruption of volcanoes.

Entrainment into two-dimensional and axisymmetric turbulent gravity currents

Entrainment of ambient fluid into both two-dimensional and axisymmetric gravity currents is investigated experimentally using a novel neutralization technique. The technique involves the titrative neutralization of an alkaline gravity current which intrudes into and entrains an acidic ambient, and is visualized using a pH indicator solution. Using this technique, we can determine quantitative results for the amount of dilution in the head of the current. The head of the current is able to entrain ambient fluid both by shear instabilities on the current/ambient interface and by over-riding (relatively light) ambient fluid. Guided by our experimental observations, we present two slightly different theoretical models to determine the entrainment into the head of the current as a function of distance from the source for the instantaneous release of a constant volume of fluid in a two-dimensional geometry. By dimensional analysis, we determine from both models that the dimensionless entrainment or dilution ratio, E , defined as the ratio of the volumes of ambient and original fluid in the head, is independent of the initial reduced gravity of the current; and this result is confirmed by our experiments in Boussinesq situations. Our theoretical evaluation of E in terms of the initial cross-sectional area of the current agrees very well with our experimental measurements on the incorporation of an entrainment coefficient α, evaluated experimentally to be 0.063 ± 0.003. We also obtain experimental results for constant-volume gravity currents moving over horizontal surfaces of varying roughness. A particularly surprising result from all the experiments, which is reflected in the theoretical models, is that the head remains essentially unmixed – the entrainment is negligible – in the slumping phase. Thus the heads of gravity currents with identical initial cross-sectional areas but different initial aspect ratios (lock lengths) will begin to be diluted by ambient fluid at different positions and hence propagate at different rates. A range of similar results is determined, both theoretically and experimentally, for the instantaneous release of a fixed volume of (heavy) fluid in an axisymmetric geometry. By contrast, the results of our experiments with gravity currents fed by a constant flux exhibit markedly different entrainment dynamics due to the continual replenishment of the fluid in the head by the constant input of undiluted fluid from the tail.

Sediment-laden gravity currents with reversing buoyancy

There are many natural occurrences of sediment-laden gravity currents in which the density of the interstitial fluid is less than that of the ambient fluid, although the bulk density of the current is greater. Such currents are driven by the excess density of suspended particles. However, after sufficient particles have sedimented, the current will become buoyant, cease its lateral motion and ascend to form a plume. Examples of such currents include brackish underflows in deltas, turbidity currents and pyroclastic flows. Experimental studies are described which show that, due to sedimentation, sediment-laden gravity currents decelerate more rapidly than saline currents of the same density. There is little difference in the experiments between a sediment-laden current with neutrally buoyant interstitial fluid and one with buoyant interstial fluid until sufficient sediment has been lost to cause the latter kind of current to lift-off. A marked deceleration is then observed and a plume is generated, with lift-off occurring along the length of the current. The resulting buoyant plume then generates a gravity current below the upper surface of the fluid in the tank. The deposit from a current with buoyant fluid shows a fairly abrupt decrease in thickness beyond the lift-off distance and has a flatter profile than that from a simple sediment current. A theoretical model is presented, which is based on the two-layer shallow-water equations and incorporates a model of the sedimentation in which particles are assumed to be uniformly suspended by the turbulence of the current. The model shows good agreement with the observed lengths of the experimental currents as a function of time and predicts the lift-off distance reasonably well. These processes have implications for the behaviour of turbidity currents, the interpretation of turbidites, mixing processes in the oceans and the lift-off of pyroclastic flows.

Axisymmetric gravity currents in a porous medium

The release from a point source of relatively heavy fluid into a saturated porous medium above an impermeable boundary is considered. A theoretical relationship is compared with experimental data for the rate of propagation of the front of the resulting gravity current and its shape. A motivation of the study, the problem of carbon dioxide sequestration, is briefly discussed.

Gravity currents descending a ramp in a stratified tank

This paper describes experiments and numerical simulations of a gravity current flowing down a ramp in a tank stratied in two layers. We study the dynamics of the conguration for dierent densities of the gravity current and dierent ramp angles. The experiments show that waves of large amplitude can be generated easily and that, depending on the density of the gravity current, the initial gravity current splits into a gravity current along the interface of the stratied layers, and a gravity current along the bottom of the tank. We also describe numerical simulations which give results in agreement with the results of the experiments and enable us to study three-fluid congurations with wider ranges of density than is possible in the laboratory.

Peridotite sills and metasomatic gabbros in the Eastern Layered Series of the Rhum complex

Mapping of the Eastern Layered Series (ELS) of the Rhum ultrabasic complex on the northern flank of Hallival shows that peridotite and allivalite (troctolite or gabbro) layers are laterally discontinuous and vary both in thickness and lithology. Peridotite generally has sharp upper and lower contacts against the allivalites, which sometimes cut across the layering in the allivalite. Reaction, dissolution and hybridization effects between peridotite and allivalite are developed locally. Some troctolite layers terminate as isolated, fingered blocks in peridotite. There are many small peridotite bodies which are clearly intrusive into allivalite and have previously been identified as distinct peridotite sheets and plugs. They are petrographically almost identical to the major stratiform peridotites and in some cases are apophyses from them. We propose that many of the peridotite layers in the ELS formed as thick sills of picritic magma emplaced into a partly solidified, layered troctolite complex. The stratiform gabbros of the ELS are heterogeneous, layered rocks that commonly contain relicts of troctolite and anorthosite. Wavy (metre-scale) contacts between gabbro and troctolite cut across pre-existing grain-size, modal and rhythmic layering with little disruption. These metasomatic gabbros mimic the textures, grain-size and rhythmic layering of their troctolitic protoliths. We propose that many of the ELS gabbros formed as a result of interaction between porous troctolites and a low-temperature basaltic melt. Residual basaltic melt segregated from solidifying peridotite may have caused this metasomatism.

Effects of external flow on compositional and particle gravity currents

The propagation at high Reynolds number of a heavy, two-dimensional gravity current of given initial volume at the base of a uniform flow is considered. An experimental setup is described for which a known volume of fluid is rapidly introduced halfway down a 9 m channel in which there is a uniform flow of water. The density excess of the released fluid is produced by either dissolving salt or suspending particles in water. The upstream and downstream propagation of the current was measured for dierent initial salt concentrations, particle sizes and concentrations. A simple box model for the motion of and deposit from the gravity current is constructed. The analytical results obtained compare well with our numerical solutions of one-layer and two-layer models incorporating the appropriate shallow-water equations. Both sets of results are in very good agreement with the experimental data.

Origin of modal and rhythmic igneous layering by sedimentation in a convecting magma chamber

EXPERIMENTAL investigations of convecting, particle-laden fluids show two regimes for convection driven by cooling from above1. In very dilute suspensions, convection will maintain a homogeneous distribution of particles throughout the convecting layer provided that particle fall velocities are small compared with turbulent fluid velocities. Above a critical concentration, convection is unable to keep the particles suspended, so the particles settle, leaving behind a layer of convecting fluid virtually free of particles. Here we apply these results to cooling magma chambers, in which crystallization leads to an increase in suspended crystal content with time. Discrete sedimentation events are predicted each time the concentration exceeds the critical value. For common igneous minerals, critical concentrations are very small (typically 0.002–0.03 wt%) and layers of the order of centimetres to a few metres thick will result. Because minerals of different density and size have different critical concentrations and settling velocities, complex fluctuations in sedimentation rate and mineral proportions can occur in a multi-component melt. This may lead to either regular repetitive cycles or more complex fluctuations. The process is confined to low-viscosity magmas, such as basalts, in which the crystals are able to separate from the active thermal boundary layer during convection.

Abrupt transitions in high-concentration, particle-driven gravity currents

A systematic series of experiments on the instantaneous release of two-dimensional, heavy, particle-driven gravity currents has been conducted. High-concentration currents propagated in a qualitatively different way than low concentration currents. In particular, beyond a critical initial volume fraction of particles, the resulting dense current came to an abrupt halt at some point down the channel, depositing the bulk of its initial sediment load as a relativly thick layer of fairly constant thickness, characterized by a pronounced, steep snout. A very much thinner layer of sediment extended for some distance beyond the arrest point. This layer was deposited from the subsequent propagation of a slower moving, low concentration residual cloud.