Pore-Scale Mechanisms for Spectral Induced Polarization of Calcite Precipitation Inferred from Geo-Electrical Millifluidics

Spectral induced polarization (SIP) has the potential for monitoring reactive processes in the subsurface. While strong SIP responses have been measured in response to calcite precipitation, their origin and mechanism remain debated. Here we present a novel geo-electrical millifluidic setup designed to observe microscale reactive transport processes while performing SIP measurements. We induced calcite precipitation by injecting two reactive solutions into a porous medium, which led to highly localized precipitates at the mixing interface. Strikingly, the amplitude of the SIP response increased by 340% during the last 7% increase in precipitate volume. Furthermore, while the peak frequency in SIP response varied spatially over 1 order of magnitude, the crystal size range was similar along the front, contradicting assumptions in the classical grain polarization model. We argue that the SIP response of calcite precipitation in such mixing fronts is governed by Maxwell–Wagner polarization due to the establishment of a precipitate wall. Numerical simulations of the electric field suggested that spatial variation in peak frequency was related to the macroscopic shape of the front. These findings provide new insights into the SIP response of calcite precipitation and highlight the potential of geoelectrical millifluidics for understanding and modeling electrical signatures of reactive transport processes.