Fluid Deformation of the Solid Earth: Bending and Breaking Rock and Ice
Jerome Neufeld
Earth Sciences, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
ABSTRACT: The hydraulic fracturing of reservoirs, the propagation of magma through Earth’s crust forming dykes and sills, and the drainage of supraglacial lakes to the base of the Greenland ice sheet are examples of fluid-driven surface deformation. An understanding of these processes relies crucially on the coupling of fluids and elastic or poroelastic deformation of solids. Neufeld explores the interaction between laminar and turbulent flows on the deformation of elastic and poroelastic materials, highlighting their role in determining the transient and long-term lubrication of the Greenland ice sheet, and the fracturing of rock during the emplacement of magma in sills and laccoliths. Drawing on reduced mathematical models, laboratory experiments and field data, Neufeld shows the crucial role that physical processes at the fracture front play in the emplacement of fluids in these different settings.
