Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth

Abstract Viscous fingering and wormhole growth are complex nonlinear unstable phenomena. We view both as the result of competition for water in which the capacity of an instability to grow depends on its ability to carry water. We derive empirical solutions to quantify the finger/wormhole flow rate...

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Main Authors: Yoar Cabeza, Juan J. Hidalgo, Jesus Carrera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-02-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084795
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author Yoar Cabeza
Juan J. Hidalgo
Jesus Carrera
author_facet Yoar Cabeza
Juan J. Hidalgo
Jesus Carrera
author_sort Yoar Cabeza
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Viscous fingering and wormhole growth are complex nonlinear unstable phenomena. We view both as the result of competition for water in which the capacity of an instability to grow depends on its ability to carry water. We derive empirical solutions to quantify the finger/wormhole flow rate in single‐, two‐, and multiple‐finger systems. We use these solutions to show that fingering and wormhole patterns are a deterministic result of competition. For wormhole growth, controlled by dissolution, we solve reactive transport analytically within each wormhole to compute dissolution at the wormhole walls and tip. The generated patterns (both for viscous fingering and wormhole growth under moderate Damköhler number values) follow a power law decay of the number of fingers/wormholes with depth with an exponent of −1 consistent with field observations.
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publishDate 2020-02-01
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record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-52b95e8a25eb45b28c93a0a35b94b1d02025-08-20T01:50:15ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072020-02-01473n/an/a10.1029/2019GL084795Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole GrowthYoar Cabeza0Juan J. Hidalgo1Jesus Carrera2Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water (IDAEA) Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Barcelona SpainInstitute of Environmental Assessment and Water (IDAEA) Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Barcelona SpainInstitute of Environmental Assessment and Water (IDAEA) Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Barcelona SpainAbstract Viscous fingering and wormhole growth are complex nonlinear unstable phenomena. We view both as the result of competition for water in which the capacity of an instability to grow depends on its ability to carry water. We derive empirical solutions to quantify the finger/wormhole flow rate in single‐, two‐, and multiple‐finger systems. We use these solutions to show that fingering and wormhole patterns are a deterministic result of competition. For wormhole growth, controlled by dissolution, we solve reactive transport analytically within each wormhole to compute dissolution at the wormhole walls and tip. The generated patterns (both for viscous fingering and wormhole growth under moderate Damköhler number values) follow a power law decay of the number of fingers/wormholes with depth with an exponent of −1 consistent with field observations.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084795wormholesviscous fingerscompetitionhydrologykarst
spellingShingle Yoar Cabeza
Juan J. Hidalgo
Jesus Carrera
Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth
Geophysical Research Letters
wormholes
viscous fingers
competition
hydrology
karst
title Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth
title_full Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth
title_fullStr Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth
title_full_unstemmed Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth
title_short Competition Is the Underlying Mechanism Controlling Viscous Fingering and Wormhole Growth
title_sort competition is the underlying mechanism controlling viscous fingering and wormhole growth
topic wormholes
viscous fingers
competition
hydrology
karst
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084795
work_keys_str_mv AT yoarcabeza competitionistheunderlyingmechanismcontrollingviscousfingeringandwormholegrowth
AT juanjhidalgo competitionistheunderlyingmechanismcontrollingviscousfingeringandwormholegrowth
AT jesuscarrera competitionistheunderlyingmechanismcontrollingviscousfingeringandwormholegrowth