A laboratory simulation of fibrous veins: some first observations

Following work by Stephen Taber 80 years ago, we describe vein-like arrays of parallel, fibrous crystals that gr-ow evaporatively between pairs of bri ne-soaked, porous ceramic substrates. Crystals of solute grow antitaxially from fixed sites on the substrate, forcing older parts of the crystals away from the growth site, without benefit of any long-range cracking parallel to the substrate. The nutrients for growth are fed to the growth site advec tively or diffusively through the substrate blocks themselves, not along th e plane of the vein. We call such crystallization Taber growth and suggest, as Taber did, that it might be an important mechanism for non-evaporative fibrous vein development in nature. The Taber growth model provides a ready explanation for the ability of fibers to track vein opening directions, an d tracking is indeed the rule in our samples, though exceptions are also se en. Our results lend support to ideas already in the literature that fibrou s veins are not necessarily products of a crack-seal process and that fibro us veins are not necessarily syntectonic. Our observations also raise quest ions about criteria for recognition of syntaxial fibrous Veins and undersco re the importance of finding new criteria for recognition of the younging d irection along fibers. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.