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Permeability of salt-crystal interfaces to brine
To investigate the movement of brine along grain boundaries in polycrystalline salt, measurements have been made of the radial flow of brine through the interface between cylindrical salt crystals under axial stresses to 140 bar and temperatures to 80/sup 0/C. For constant conditions, the total flow of brine showed a linear dependence on the logarithm of time, and the reciprocal permeability increased linearly with time. Loss of salt from the interface by pressure solution effects was more than enough to account for the decrease in the apparent thickness of the interface (i.e., that which may be estimated for an interface of the same permeability formed by plane parallel surfaces). This apparent thickness, initially as large as 10 ..mu..m, decreased to as little as 0.2 ..mu..m with exposure to stress and flowing brine. It decreased quickly with sudden increases in axial stress and usually increased, though not reversibly, with decreases in stress. The rate of increase in the reciprocal permeability with time was roughly proportional to the stress and to the square of the hydraulic pressure drop. Assuming similar apparent thicknesses for the grain boundaries in polycrystalline salt, permeabilities are predicted that are quite consistent with the low values reported for stressed core specimens