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A dehydroxylation kinetics study of brucite Mg(OH)2 at elevated pressure and temperature

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Abstract

We performed an in situ dehydroxylation kinetics study of brucite under water-saturated conditions in the pressure and temperature ranges of 593–633 K and 668–1655 MPa using a hydrothermal diamond anvil cell. The kinetic analysis of the isothermal–isobaric data using an Avrami-type model involving nucleation and growth processes yields values for the dehydroxylation rate and reaction order compatible with a reaction mechanism limited by the monodimensional diffusion of water molecules from structural OH groups. Our results show a negative pressure dependence on the reaction rate k and a positive temperature dependence on the k. The dehydroxylation of brucite yields an activation volume ∆V value of 5.03 cm3/mol. Following the Arrhenius relationship, the apparent activation energy E a of the process is calculated to be 146 kJ/mol within the experimental P–T ranges. It is determined that the fluid production rates varying from 4.4 × 10−7 to 10.7 × 10−7 \({\text{m}}_{\text{fluid}}^{3} \;{\text{m}}_{\text{rock}}^{ - 3} \;{\text{s}}^{ - 1}\) are a few orders of magnitude greater than the strain rate of the mantle serpentinites, which may be fast enough to result in the brittle fracture of rocks. Moreover, the rate of fluid production will be enhanced when brucite occurs in the non-/low H2O environments of the subduction zone.

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Acknowledgements

We greatly thank Dr. Tsuchiya, Dr. Jacobsen and an anonymous reviewer for the constructive comments to improve the quality of the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41603061, 41374095), the CAS/CAFEA international partnership program for creative research teams (No. KZZD-EW-TZ-19), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2015M571097).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Chuanjiang Liu, Duojun Wang & Tao Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crystal Evolution, Ministry of Education, School of Earth and Space Science, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Haifei Zheng

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  1. Chuanjiang Liu
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Correspondence to Duojun Wang.

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Liu, C., Wang, D., Zheng, H. et al. A dehydroxylation kinetics study of brucite Mg(OH)2 at elevated pressure and temperature. Phys Chem Minerals 44, 297–306 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-016-0857-y

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