Occurrence of precipitated silica minerals due to phase change of fluid and evolution process of aperture structure of fracture

Abstract

Fractures are dominant fluid pathways in the upper crusts. Ubiquitous occurrences of mineral veins suggest that precipitation of quartz provides significant effects on hydrological and mechanical properties of upper crusts. We conducted hydrothermal flow-through experiments for quartz precipitation and  observed internal structures of synthetic veins by X-ray computer tomography. We also discuss the difference of mineralogy and distribution of silica minerals in vapor and supercritical region.