Transport properties of high albite crystals, near-endmember feldspar and pyroxene glasses, and their melts to high temperature

Abstract

Thermal diffusivity (D) was measured using laser-flash analysis (LFA) from oriented single-crystal albite and glasses near LiAlSi3O8, NaAlSi3O8, CaAl2Si2O8, LiAlSi2O6 and CaMgSi2O6 compositions. Viscosity measurements of the supercooled liquids, over 2.6 × 108 to 8.9 × 1012 Pa s, confirm strongly non-Arrhenian behavior for CaAl2Si2O8, and CaMgSi2O6, and near-Arrhenian behavior for the others. As T increases, D glass decreases, approaching a constant near 1,000 K. Upon crossing the glass transition, D decreases rapidly. For feldspars, D for the melt is ~15% below D of the bulk crystal, whereas for pyroxenes, this difference is ~40%. Thermal conductivity (k lat = ρC P D) of crystals decreases with increasing T, but k lat of glasses increases with T because heat capacity (C P ) increases with T more strongly than density (ρ) and D decrease. For feldspars, k lat for the melt is ~10% below that of the bulk crystal or glass, whereas this decrease for pyroxene is ~50%. Therefore, melting substantially impedes heat transport, providing positive thermal feedback that could promote further melting.