ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Phys.
Sec. Interdisciplinary Physics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2025.1628328
This article is part of the Research TopicUnraveling Precipitation Patterns: Mechanisms of Geochemical and Geophysical Self-OrganizationView all articles
Influence of geometry heterogeneity on Liesegang patterns in rocks
Provisionally accepted
- 1The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 2Curtin University, Perth, Australia
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In far-from-equilibrium chemical systems, self-organizing diffusion-reaction processes can give rise to complex patterns. Such self-organizing patterns are commonly found in diverse rocks, emerging as periodic stripes, rings, and various polygons. While these patterns are well documented, the drivers of their diversity and the mechanisms behind pattern selection remain unclear. This study investigates how geometric heterogeneity influences the formation of Liesegang patterns in natural geological materials such as Zebra rocks, pyrite ores, and orbicular granites. Using numerical simulations based on phase-field modeling, we replicate various Liesegang pattern morphologies observed in nature, such as circular, triangular, and interacting bands, and analyze their dependence on initial geometry and boundary conditions. We demonstrate that the spatial distribution of reactive fluids and the shape of nucleation zones play critical roles in determining the final pattern morphology. Our results provide insight into the self-organization processes in geochemical systems and offer a predictive framework for understanding rhythmic mineral banding in rocks.
Keywords: Liesegang pattern, self-organization, Geometry heterogeneity, Zebra rock, orbicular granite, Pyrite rock
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Regenauer-Lieb and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chong Liu, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China
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