Spontaneous crack healing in calcite reveals the influence of dynamic strain evolution and surface chemistry.

Michelle Devoe, Harrison P Lisabeth, Seiji Nakagawa, Zhao Hao, Nobumichi Tamura, Hans-Rudolf Wenk

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Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Michelle Devoe *Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. mdevoe@berkeley.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9056-6005

Harrison P Lisabeth *Energy Geoscience Division, EESA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4491-013X

Seiji NakagawaEnergy Geoscience Division, EESA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Zhao HaoEnergy Geoscience Division, EESA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0677-8529

Nobumichi TamuraAdvanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3698-2611

Hans-Rudolf WenkDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Funding

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mechanics of fracture healing in calcite remain poorly constrained yet are fundamental to managing fluid transport in geothermal reservoirs and hydrocarbon systems. Here, we apply microfocused synchrotron Laue X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy to investigate subcritical crack healing in a 1 mm-thick calcite crystal subjected to controlled loading in a double-torsion device. Over a 44-hour period following load removal, we map the evolution of residual strain fields surrounding the crack tip and observe a progressive increase in compressive strain perpendicular to the crack plane accompanied by infrared spectroscopic signatures that reveal enhanced accumulation of water at the healed interface. The correlation between strain evolution and surface chemistry suggests that spontaneous crack healing in calcite is driven by dynamic anelastic relaxation coupled with irreversible fluid-mineral interactions. These findings offer insight into time-dependent crack closure processes in carbonates and highlight the role of chemically-mediated plasticity in subsurface fracture evolution.

Identifiers

PMID41922348

DOI10.1038/s41467-026-71110-x

PMCPMC13212580

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.