Chemical controls on the propagation rate of fracture in calcite.

ABSTRACT: Calcite (CaCO₃) is one of the most abundant minerals in the Earth's crust, and it is susceptible to subcritical chemically-driven fracturing. Understanding chemical processes at individual fracture tips, and how they control the development of fractures and fracture networks in the subsurface, is critical for carbon and nuclear waste storage, resource extraction, and predicting earthquakes. Chemical processes controlling subcritical fracture in calcite are poorly understood. We demonstrate a novel approach to quantify the coupled chemical-mechanical effects on subcritical fracture. The calcite surface was indented using a Vickers-geometry indenter tip, which resulted in repeatable micron-scale fractures propagating from the indent. Individual indented samples were submerged in a

SUBMITTER: Ilgen AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6220247 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature