# Reactive-infiltration instabilities in rocks. Fracture dissolution

Source: [Reactive-infiltration instabilities in rocks. Fracture dissolution](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa359f1e209131ce8a3219>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-24T21:21:31.376Z

Authors: Piotr Szymczak, Anthony J. C. Ladd

Published: 2012-04-04T10:37:57.000Z

## Abstract

A reactive fluid dissolving the surface of a uniform fracture will trigger an instability in the dissolution front, leading to spontaneous formation of pronounced well-spaced channels in the surrounding rock matrix. Although the underlying mechanism is similar to the wormhole instability in porous rocks there are significant differences in the physics, due to the absence of a steadily propagating reaction front. In previous work we have described the geophysical implications of this instability in regard to the formation of long conduits in soluble rocks. Here we describe a more general linear stability analysis, including axial diffusion, transport limited dissolution, non-linear kinetics, and a finite length system.

## Recorded benchmark results

A research result applies to its stated dataset, split, metric and evaluation configuration. Compare like-for-like settings, preserve the metric's unit and direction, and distinguish paper-reported results from independent reproduction. The best result recorded here is not a claim of exhaustive, current global coverage.

## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1204.0917>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.0917.pdf>)