I am planing to study water-rock interaction in order to observe the element dissolution and weathering rate as a laboratory experiment. However, it won't be a flow system. So, are there any specific guidelines to set up this experiment? Should I use ground rock or as lumps (block). Most authors have mentioned their methods where ground rocks had been used. Please suggest me some more articles as well.
Ground rock is preferred more than lumps in order to increase overall surface area of rock, thereby increasing the concentration of dissolved elements (you need sufficient high concentration to detect the dissolution). You can check the method here:
http://www.essc.psu.edu/~sxb7/publications/Chapt5.pdf
Thanks Sanjay,
Thanks for this vital document. And one more question. It seems (actually I found after referring too much) that metamorphic rocks are not much preferable in batch dissolution experiments. Is there any specific reason for that?
Water-rock interaction study can be made with batch experiments under varying Eh-pH and temp conditions. Pl. go through literature for details. The batch experiments are in lab conditions which is different from natural weathering reactions. However, it will provide some useful information on different factors playing role. Try to use natural rock slices of appropriate geometry.
Well,
From the hydrogeochemical point of view, the best method to study the water-rock interaction is using the results obtained from PhreeqC Software. See the attached articles,
Article Modeling the Hydrogeochemical Processes and Source of Ions i...
Regards