Retreat to advance: self-blocking enables efficient mineral replacement

A. Budek; T. Szawełło; V. Voller; P. Szymczak

doi:10.1680/jgele.25.00094

journal article Mar 19, 2026

Retreat to advance: self-blocking enables efficient mineral replacement

A. Budek T. Szawełło V. Voller P. Szymczak

Géotechnique Letters pp. 1-7 · Emerald

View at Publisher Save 10.1680/jgele.25.00094

Abstract

Mineral replacement reactions under advective flow often suffer from severe spatial inefficiency: dissolution causes the flow to self-focus into a few dominant wormholes that bypass the surrounding matrix, leaving most of the rock unreplaced. Here we show—through two-dimensional pore-network simulations—that replacement can be effective in two regimes. The first arises when the precipitation rate significantly exceeds the dissolution rate, leading to in situ replacement in which a uniform front of the secondary mineral advances through the matrix. The second, exploratory mode, occurs when the system repeatedly self-blocks and re-routes. In this regime, each channel lives only long enough to deliver reactant a short distance ahead of the front before its tip is cemented by the product phase; pressure re-routes through an adjacent corridor, and the cycle begins anew. Over time, the replacement front advances as a mosaic of overlapping micro-fronts, distributing the secondary mineral almost uniformly. We derive design criteria for achieving exploratory-mode behaviour and discuss implications for both natural and engineered reactive-infiltration systems.

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Details

Published: Mar 19, 2026
Pages: 1-7

Authors

A

A. Budek

University of Minnesota * Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, , Minneapolis, ,

T

T. Szawełło

University of Warsaw † Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, , Warsaw,

V

V. Voller

University of Minnesota ‡ Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo Engineering and Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory, , Minneapolis, ,

P

P. Szymczak

University of Warsaw § Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, , ,

Cite This Article

A. Budek, T. Szawełło, V. Voller, et al. (2026). Retreat to advance: self-blocking enables efficient mineral replacement. Géotechnique Letters, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.25.00094

Retreat to advance: self-blocking enables efficient mineral replacement

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