Feldspar dissolution in the presence of organic acid anions under diagenetic conditions: an experimental study

Previous experiments to determine the aqueous solubility of lead-rich orthoclase in the presence of the ethanoic acid anion (acetate) at 150°C and 50 MPa have shown that the observed fluid compositions are essentially controlled by the presence of secondary mineral precipitates, which buffer dissolved species apart from lead. Data for lead suggest that dissolution increased with increasing fluid ethanoic acid anion content, but the ethanoic acid anion was unstable under the experimental conditions. Additional experiment have now been carried out using pure natural albite and ethanoic acid anion solutions at 150°C and 50 MPa, in which the ethanoic acid anion remains stable. The results for albite again demonstrate the influence on fluid composition of secondary mineral precipitates, but data for silica allow the rates of dissolution to be estimated. Values obtained for the dissolution rate constant increase from 1.8 × 10⁻⁷ to 5.3 × 10⁻⁷ s⁻¹ with increasing fluid ethanoic acid anion content (0.1–2.5 molal) and approximate to values for quartz and orthoclase dissolution rates for similar PT conditions, reflecting similarity in the mechanisms of dissolution of the minerals' three dimensional (alumino)silicate frameworks. However, these experiments provide no other evidence that the ethanoic acid anion enhances equilibrium solubilities of feldspars or quartz. In contrast to the results for the ethanoic acid anion, data for albite dissolution experiments in the presence of the ethanedioic acid anion (oxalate) at 150°C and 50 MPa show an inhibitionn of solubility (apart from aluminium), while data for the 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid trivalent anion (citrate) show considerable enhancement of solubility for aluminium and silicon, and titanium derived from the reaction vessel. The 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid trivalent anion is unstable, decaying according to first order kinetics (half life = 1.5 days). In their application to problems of diagenesis in the presence of organic acid anions, these results suggest that the ethanoic acid anion may influence feldspar dissolution by accelerating diagenetic reactions, while geologically short-lived species such as the 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid trivalent anion and its decay products may dramatically enhance aluminosilicate solubility.