A reactive fluid dissolving the surrounding rock matrix can trigger an
instability in the dissolution front, leading to spontaneous formation of
pronounced channels or wormholes. Theoretical investigations of this
instability have typically focused on a steadily propagating dissolution front
that separates regions of high and low porosity. In this paper we show that
this is not the only possible dissolutional instability in porous rocks; there
is another instability that operates instantaneously on any initial porosity
field, including an entirely uniform one. The relative importance of the two
mechanisms depends on the ratio of the porosity increase to the initial
porosity. We show that the "inlet" instability is likely to be important in
limestone formations where the initial porosity is small and there is the
possibility of a large increase in permeability. In quartz-rich sandstones,
where the proportion of easily soluble material (e.g. carbonate cements) is
small, the instability in the steady-state equations is dominant.Comment: to be published in Geophysical Research Letter
