Dissolution of primary minerals of basalt in natural waters: I. Calculation of mineral solubilities from 0°C to 350°C

Abstract

The solubilities of forsterite, fayalite, enstatite, ferrosilite, hedenbergite, diopside, anorthite, high-albite, magnetite, hematite, ulvöspinel, ilmenite, F-apatite and OH-apatite and olivine, plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and Fe–Ti oxide solid solutions of fixed composition were calculated in the temperature range 0–350°C at saturated water vapour pressure. The thermodynamic database used for end-member minerals was that of Robie and Hemingway [Robie, R.A., Hemingway, B.S., 1995. Thermodynamic properties of minerals and related substances at 298.15 K and 1 bar (105 Pascals) pressures and at higher temperatures. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 2131, 461 pp.] except for plagioclases [Arnórsson, S., Stefánsson, A., 1999. Assessment of feldspar solubility constants in water in the range of 0° to 350°C at vapor saturation pressures. Am. J. Sci. 299, 173–209.] and that of Shock and Helgeson [Shock, E.L., Helgeson, H.C., 1988. Calculation of the thermodynamic and transport properties of aqueous species at high pressures and temperatures: correlation algorithms for ionic species and equation-of-state predictions to 5 kb and 1000°C. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 2009–2036.] and Shock et al. [Shock, E.L., Oelkers, E.H., Johnson, J.W., Sverjensky, D.A., Helgeson, H.C., 1992. Calculation of the thermodynamic properties of aqueous species at high pressures and temperatures: effective electrostatic radii, dissociation constants, and standard partial molal properties to 1000°C and 5 kbar. J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 88, 803–826.] for most aqueous species. For aqueous Fe(OH) 4 − and Al(OH) 4 −, the thermodynamic properties reported by Diakonov et al. and Pokrovskii and Helgeson [Pokrovskii, V.A., Helgeson, H.C., 1995. Thermodynamic properties of aqueous species and the solubilities of minerals at high pressures and temperatures: the system Al 2O 3–H 2O–NaCl. Am. J. Sci. 295, 1255–1342], respectively, were used. In the present study, the standard partial molal properties and the HKF equation-of-state parameters for aqueous H 4SiO 4 0 were revised to better describe the recent experimental results at low temperatures. For H 4SiO 4 0, the new parameters are also consistent with quartz solubility experiments up to 900°C and 5 kbar. Further, the HKF equation-of-state parameters for aqueous Ti(OH) 4 0 were estimated from rutile solubility [Ziemniak, S.E., Jones, M.E., Combs, K.E.S., 1993. Solubility behaviour of titanium (IV) oxide in alkaline media at elevated temperatures. J. Sol. Chem. 22, 601–623.], which enables the calculations of the solubility of Ti-bearing minerals at elevated temperatures and pressures. Much higher solubilities were found for the silicate minerals below 100°C than previously reported, which is related to higher quartz solubility at low temperature and correspondingly new data on the thermodynamic properties of H 4SiO 4 0. The present results are particularly important for the stabilities of primary basaltic minerals of natural composition under weathering conditions. They are also of importance for the study of equilibrium/dis-equilibrium conditions in active geothermal systems.