New experiment to model self-organized critical transport and accumulationof melt and hydrocarbons from their source rocks

A new, simple, and easily reproducible experiment eras designed to simulate the production, accumulation, and transport of melt within rock. The trans port was found to be of the self-organized critical type. The emergence of self-organized criticality is explained by the availability of hydrofractur e propagation as a rapid or ballistic transport mechanism. This mechanism a lso serves as a mechanism for stepwise accumulation. These findings are con firmed by a numerical model, which shows the emergence of self-organized cr itical behavior when Darcian transport cannot accommodate transport and the dormant transport mechanism of hydrofracture propagation is activated. Bal listic and self-organized critical transport may play a significant role in the transport and accumulation of geological fluids, such as melt and hydr ocarbons. This conclusion has a profound impact on the modeling of many tra nsport processes in geology (e.g., accumulation of melt, oil, and gas).