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Science 20 March 1992:
Vol. 255. no. 5051, pp. 1564 - 1567
DOI: 10.1126/science.255.5051.1564
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Articles

Percolation Theory, Thermoelasticity, and Discrete Hydrothermal Venting in the Earth's Crust

L. N. GERMANOVICH 1 and ROBERT P. LOWELL 1

1 School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332

As hydrothermal fluid ascends through a network of cracks into cooler crust, heat is transferred from the fluid to the adjacent rock. The thermal stresses caused by this heating close cracks that are more or less vertical. This heating may affect network connections and destroy the permeable crack network. Thermoelastic stresses caused by a temperature difference of sim1000°C can decrease the interconnectivity of a crack network to the percolation threshold. If the temperature is slightly less, thermoelastic stresses may focus the discharge in hydrothermal systems into discrete vents.

Submitted on October 8, 1991
Accepted on January 15, 1992


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