Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems?
Abstract The destabilizing thermal gradient across the Earth's lithosphere drives convection in superconfined hydrothermal environments at mid‐ocean ridges and geothermal reservoirs in the continental crust. Deep, hot waters rise in these regions and meet cold surface water that percolates thro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112097 |
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| author | H. N. Ulloa D. Noto J. A. Letelier |
| author_facet | H. N. Ulloa D. Noto J. A. Letelier |
| author_sort | H. N. Ulloa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The destabilizing thermal gradient across the Earth's lithosphere drives convection in superconfined hydrothermal environments at mid‐ocean ridges and geothermal reservoirs in the continental crust. Deep, hot waters rise in these regions and meet cold surface water that percolates through open fractures, creating complex and poorly understood mixing dynamics. This Letter explores the relationship between energy, convection, and mixing in analog hydrothermal systems. Leveraging energetics theory and lab‐scale experiments, we present a scaling formulation for estimating the irreversible mixing boosted by convective flows occurring within faulted and fractured hydrothermal environments. These findings bear relevance to natural Earth processes and human‐engineered applications, such as geothermal energy harvesting and geologic CO2 sequestration. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e1534c7e230435e8f1fa7b0cd663a70 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e1534c7e230435e8f1fa7b0cd663a702025-08-20T02:16:05ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-03-01525n/an/a10.1029/2024GL112097Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems?H. N. Ulloa0D. Noto1J. A. Letelier2Department of Earth and Environmental Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA USADepartamento de Ingeniería Civil Universidad de Chile Santiago ChileAbstract The destabilizing thermal gradient across the Earth's lithosphere drives convection in superconfined hydrothermal environments at mid‐ocean ridges and geothermal reservoirs in the continental crust. Deep, hot waters rise in these regions and meet cold surface water that percolates through open fractures, creating complex and poorly understood mixing dynamics. This Letter explores the relationship between energy, convection, and mixing in analog hydrothermal systems. Leveraging energetics theory and lab‐scale experiments, we present a scaling formulation for estimating the irreversible mixing boosted by convective flows occurring within faulted and fractured hydrothermal environments. These findings bear relevance to natural Earth processes and human‐engineered applications, such as geothermal energy harvesting and geologic CO2 sequestration.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112097thermal convectionthermal mixinghydrothermal systemslaboratory experiments |
| spellingShingle | H. N. Ulloa D. Noto J. A. Letelier Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems? Geophysical Research Letters thermal convection thermal mixing hydrothermal systems laboratory experiments |
| title | Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems? |
| title_full | Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems? |
| title_fullStr | Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems? |
| title_short | Convection, but How Fast Does Fluid Mix in Hydrothermal Systems? |
| title_sort | convection but how fast does fluid mix in hydrothermal systems |
| topic | thermal convection thermal mixing hydrothermal systems laboratory experiments |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112097 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hnulloa convectionbuthowfastdoesfluidmixinhydrothermalsystems AT dnoto convectionbuthowfastdoesfluidmixinhydrothermalsystems AT jaletelier convectionbuthowfastdoesfluidmixinhydrothermalsystems |