Fluid-driven metamorphism of the continental crust governed by nanoscale fluid flow.

ABSTRACT: The transport of fluids through the Earth's crust controls the redistribution of elements to form mineral and hydrocarbon deposits, the release and sequestration of greenhouse gases, and facilitates metamorphic reactions that influence lithospheric rheology. In permeable systems with a well-connected porosity, fluid transport is largely driven by fluid pressure gradients. In less permeable rocks, deformation may induce permeability by creating interconnected heterogeneities, but without these perturbations, mass transport is limited along grain boundaries or relies on transformation processes that self-generate transient fluid pathways. The latter can facilitate large-scale fluid and mass transport in nominally impermeable rocks without large-scale fluid transport pathways. Here, we show t

SUBMITTER: Plumper O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5584665 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature