Coupled phase and aqueous species equilibrium of the H2O-CO2-NaCl-CaCO3 system from 0 to 250 °C, 1 to 1000 bar with NaCl concentrations up to saturation of halite

A model is developed for the calculation of coupled phase and aqueous species equilibrium in the H₂O-CO₂-NaCl-CaCO₃ system from 0 to 250 °C, 1 to 1000 bar with NaCl concentrations up to saturation of halite. The vapor-liquid-solid (calcite, halite) equilibrium together with the chemical equilibrium of H⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, , Ca(OH)⁺, OH⁻, Cl⁻, , , CO_2(aq) and CaCO_3(aq) in the aqueous liquid phase as a function of temperature, pressure, NaCl concentrations, CO_2(aq) concentrations can be calculated, with accuracy close to those of experiments in the stated T-P-m range, hence calcite solubility, CO₂ gas solubility, alkalinity and pH values can be accurately calculated. The merit and advantage of this model is its predictability, the model was generally not constructed by fitting experimental data.One of the focuses of this study is to predict calcite solubility, with accuracy consistent with the works in previous experimental studies. The resulted model reproduces the following: (1) as temperature increases, the calcite solubility decreases. For example, when temperature increases from 273 to 373 K, calcite solubility decreases by about 50%; (2) with the increase of pressure, calcite solubility increases. For example, at 373 K changing pressure from 10 to 500 bar may increase calcite solubility by as much as 30%; (3) dissolved CO₂ can increase calcite solubility substantially; (4) increasing concentration of NaCl up to 2 m will increase calcite solubility, but further increasing NaCl solubility beyond 2 m will decrease its solubility.The functionality of pH value, alkalinity, CO₂ gas solubility, and the concentrations of many aqueous species with temperature, pressure and NaCl_(aq) concentrations can be found from the application of this model. Online calculation is made available on www.geochem-model.org/models/h2o_co2_nacl_caco3/calc.php.     

A simple predictive model of quartz solubility in water-salt-CO2 systems at temperatures up to 1000 °C and pressures up to 1000 MPa

Knowledge of the solubility of quartz over a broad spectrum of aqueous fluid compositions and T-P conditions is essential to our understanding of water-rock interaction in the Earth’s crust. We propose an equation to compute the molality of aqueous silica, m_SiO2(aq), mol·(kg H₂O)⁻¹, in equilibrium with quartz and water-salt-CO₂ fluids, as follows:

     

The system H2O-NaCl. Part I: Correlation formulae for phase relations in temperature-pressure-composition space from 0 to 1000 °C, 0 to 5000 bar, and 0 to 1 XNaCl

Realistic simulations of fluid flow in geologic systems have severely been hampered by the lack of a consistent formulation for fluid properties for binary salt-water fluids over the temperature-pressure-composition ranges encountered in the Earth’s crust. As the first of two companion studies, a set of correlations describing the phase stability relations in the system H₂O-NaCl is developed. Pure water is described by the IAPS-84 equation of state. New correlations comprise the vapor pressure of halite and molten NaCl, the NaCl melting curve, the composition of halite-saturated liquid and vapor, the pressure of vapor + liquid + halite coexistence, the temperature-pressure and temperature-composition relations for the critical curve, and the compositions of liquid and vapor on the vapor + liquid coexistence surface. The correlations yield accurate values for temperatures from 0 to 1000 °C, pressures from 0 to 5000 bar, and compositions from 0 to 1 X_NaCl (mole fraction of NaCl). To facilitate their use in fluid flow simulations, the correlations are entirely formulated as functions of temperature, pressure and composition.     

The system H2O-NaCl. Part II: Correlations for molar volume, enthalpy, and isobaric heat capacity from 0 to 1000 °C, 1 to 5000 bar, and 0 to 1 XNaCl

A set of correlations for the volumetric properties and enthalpies of phases in the system H₂O-NaCl as a function of temperature, pressure, and composition has been developed that yields accurate values from 0 to 1000 °C, 1 to 5000 bar, and 0 to 1 X_NaCl. The volumetric properties of all fluid phases from low-density vapor to hydrous salt melts and single-phase binary fluids at high pressures and temperatures, can be described by a simple equation

     

Equation of state of the H2O, CO2, and H2O-CO2 systems up to 10 GPa and 2573.15 K: Molecular dynamics simulations with ab initio potential surface

Based on our previous development of the molecular interaction potential for pure H₂O and CO₂ [Zhang, Z.G., Duan, Z.H. 2005a. Isothermal-isobaric molecular dynamics simulations of the PVT properties of water over wide range of temperatures and pressures. Phys. Earth Planet Interiors149, 335-354; Zhang, Z.G., Duan, Z.H. 2005b. An optimized molecular potential for carbon dioxide. J. Chem. Phys.122, 214507] and the ab initio potential surface across CO₂-H₂O molecules constructed in this study, we carried out more than one thousand molecular dynamics simulations of the PVTx properties of the CO₂-H₂O mixtures in the temperature-pressure range from 673.15 to 2573.15 K up to 10.0 GPa. Comparison with extensive experimental PVTx data indicates that the simulated results generally agree with experimental data within 2% in density, equivalent to experimental uncertainty. Even the data under the highest experimental temperature-pressure conditions (up to 1673 K and 1.94 GPa) are well predicted with the agreement within 1.0% in density, indicating that the high accuracy of the simulation is well retained as the temperature and pressure increase. The consistent and stable predictability of the simulation from low to high temperature-pressure and the fact that the molecular dynamics simulation resort to no experimental data but to ab initio molecular potential makes us convinced that the simulation results should be reliable up to at least 2573 K and 10 GPa with errors less than 2% in density. In order to integrate all the simulation results of this study and previous studies [Zhang and Duan, 2005a, 2005b] and the experimental data for the calculation of volumetric properties (volume, density, and excess volume), heat properties, and chemical properties (fugacity, activity, and possibly supercritical phase separation), an equation of state (EOS) is laboriously developed for the CO₂, H₂O, and CO₂-H₂O systems. This EOS reproduces all the experimental and simulated data covering a wide temperature and pressure range from 673.15 to 2573.15 K and from 0 to 10.0 GPa within experimental or simulation uncertainty.     

Experimental determination of the activity-composition relations and phase equilibria of H2O-CO2-NaCl fluids at 500°C, 500 bars

An understanding of the activity-composition (a-X) relations and phase equilibria of halite-bearing, mixed-species supercritical fluids is critically important in many geological and industrial applications. We have performed experiments on H₂O-CO₂-NaCl fluids at 500°C, 500 bar, to obtain accurate and precise data on their a-X relations and phase equilibria. Two kinds of experiments were performed. First, H₂O-CO₂-NaCl samples were reacted at fixed activities of H₂O = 0.078, 0.350, 0.425, 0.448, 0.553, 0.560, 0.606, 0.678, 0.798, 0.841, and 0.935 to define the tie lines of known H₂O activity in the halite-vapor and vapor-brine fields. Results indicate that fluids with all but the last of these H₂O activities lie in the vapor-halite two-phase region and that a fluid with a_H2O = 0.841 has a composition close to the three-phase (vapor + brine + halite) field. A second set of experiments was performed to determine the solubility of NaCl in parts of the system in equilibrium with halite. Data from these experiments suggest that the vapor corner of the three-phase field lies at H₂O contents above X_H2O = 0.58 and X_NaCl = 0.06, and below X_H2O = 0.75 and X_NaCl = 0.06, which is a significantly more H₂O-rich composition than indicated by existing thermodynamic models.     

An experimental study of the solubility of molybdenum in H2O and KCl-H2O solutions from 500 °C to 800 °C, and 150 to 300 MPa

The solubility of molybdenum (Mo) was determined at temperatures from 500 °C to 800 °C and 150 to 300 MPa in KCl-H₂O and pure H₂O solutions in cold-seal experiments. The solutions were trapped as synthetic fluid inclusions in quartz at experimental conditions, and analyzed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA ICPMS).Mo solubilities of 1.6 wt% in the case of KCl-bearing aqueous solutions and up to 0.8 wt% in pure H₂O were found. Mo solubility is temperature dependent, but not pressure dependent over the investigated range, and correlates positively with salinity (KCl concentration). Molar ratios of ∼1 for Mo/Cl and Mo/K are derived based on our data. In combination with results of synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy of individual fluid inclusions, it is suggested that Mo-oxo-chloride complexes are present at high salinity (>20 wt% KCl) and ion pairs at moderate to low salinity (<11 wt% KCl) in KCl-H₂O aqueous solutions. Similarly, in the pure H₂O experiments molybdic acid is the dominant species in aqueous solution. The results of these hydrothermal Mo experiments fit with earlier studies conducted at lower temperatures and indicate that high Mo concentrations can be transported in aqueous solutions. Therefore, the Mo concentration in aqueous fluids seems not to be the limiting factor for ore formation, whereas precipitation processes and the availability of sulfur appear to be the main controlling factors in the formation of molybdenite (MoS₂).     

Structure of H2O-saturated peralkaline aluminosilicate melt and coexisting aluminosilicate-saturated aqueous fluid determined in-situ to 800 °C and ∼800 MPa

The structure of H₂O-saturated silicate melts and of silicate-saturated aqueous solutions, as well as that of supercritical silicate-rich aqueous liquids, has been characterized in-situ while the sample was at high temperature (to 800 °C) and pressure (up to 796 MPa). Structural information was obtained with confocal microRaman and with FTIR spectroscopy. Two Al-bearing glasses compositionally along the join Na₂O•4SiO₂-Na₂O•4(NaAl)O₂-H₂O (5 and 10 mol% Al₂O₃, denoted NA5 and NA10) were used as starting materials. Fluids and melts were examined along pressure-temperature trajectories of isochores of H₂O at nominal densities (from PVT properties of pure H₂O) of 0.85 g/cm³ (NA10 experiments) and 0.86 g/cm³ (NA5 experiments) with the aluminosilicate + H₂O sample contained in an externally-heated, Ir-gasketed hydrothermal diamond anvil cell.Molecular H₂O (H₂O°) and OH groups that form bonds with cations exist in all three phases. The OH/H₂O° ratio is positively correlated with temperature and pressure (and, therefore, fugacity of H₂O, f_H2O) with (OH/H₂O°)^melt > (OH/H₂O°)^fluid at all pressures and temperatures. Structural units of Q³, Q², Q¹, and Q⁰ type occur together in fluids, in melts, and, when outside the two-phase melt + fluid boundary, in single-phase liquids. The abundance of Q⁰ and Q¹ increases and Q² and Q³ decrease with f_H2O. Therefore, the NBO/T (nonbridging oxygen per tetrahedrally coordination cations), of melt is a positive function of f_H2O. The NBO/T of silicate in coexisting aqueous fluid, although greater than in melt, is less sensitive to f_H2O.The melt structural data are used to describe relationships between activity of H₂O and melting phase relations of silicate systems at high pressure and temperature. The data were also combined with available partial molar configurational heat capacity of Qⁿ-species in melts to illustrate how these quantities can be employed to estimate relationships between heat capacity of melts and their H₂O content.     

Microbial dissolution of calcite at T = 28 °C and ambient pCO2

This study used batch reactors to quantify the mechanisms and rates of calcite dissolution in the presence and absence of a single heterotrophic bacterial species (Burkholderia fungorum). Experiments were conducted at T = 28°C and ambient pCO₂ over time periods spanning either 21 or 35 days. Bacteria were supplied with minimal growth media containing either glucose or lactate as a C source, NH₄⁺ as an N source, and H₂PO₄⁻ as a P source. Combining stoichiometric equations for microbial growth with an equilibrium mass-balance model of the H₂O-CO₂-CaCO₃ system demonstrates that B. fungorum affected calcite dissolution by modifying pH and alkalinity during utilization of ionic N and C species. Uptake of NH₄⁺ decreased pH and alkalinity, whereas utilization of lactate, a negatively charged organic anion, increased pH and alkalinity. Calcite in biotic glucose-bearing reactors dissolved by simultaneous reaction with H₂CO₃ generated by dissolution of atmospheric CO₂ (H₂CO₃ + CaCO₃ → Ca²⁺ + 2HCO₃⁻) and H⁺ released during NH₄⁺ uptake (H⁺ + CaCO₃ → Ca²⁺ + HCO₃⁻). Reaction with H₂CO₃ and H⁺ supplied ∼45% and 55% of the total Ca²⁺ and ∼60% and 40% of the total HCO₃⁻, respectively. The net rate of microbial calcite dissolution in the presence of glucose and NH₄⁺ was ∼2-fold higher than that observed for abiotic control experiments where calcite dissolved only by reaction with H₂CO₃. In lactate bearing reactors, most H⁺ generated by NH₄⁺ uptake reacted with HCO₃⁻ produced by lactate oxidation to yield CO₂ and H₂O. Hence, calcite in biotic lactate-bearing reactors dissolved by reaction with H₂CO₃ at a net rate equivalent to that calculated for abiotic control experiments. This study suggests that conventional carbonate equilibria models can satisfactorily predict the bulk fluid chemistry resulting from microbe-calcite interactions, provided that the ionic forms and extent of utilization of N and C sources can be constrained. Because the solubility and dissolution rate of calcite inversely correlate with pH, heterotrophic microbial growth in the presence of nonionic organic matter and NH₄⁺ appears to have the greatest potential for enhancing calcite weathering relative to abiotic conditions.     

Experimental determination of the Raman CH4 symmetric stretching (ν1) band position from 1-650 bar and 0.3-22 °C: Application to fluid inclusion studies

The position of the Raman methane (CH₄) symmetric stretching band (ν₁) over the range 1-650 bar and 0.3-22 °C has been determined using a high-pressure optical cell mounted on a Raman microprobe. Two neon emission lines that closely bracket the CH₄ band were collected simultaneously with each CH₄ spectrum. The peak position was determined after least squares fitting using a summed Gaussian-Lorentzian method, resulting in a precision of ≈±0.02 cm⁻¹ in peak position determination. The CH₄ν₁ band position shifts to lower wave number with increasing pressure. At a given pressure, the band shifts to lower wave number with decreasing temperature, and the magnitude of the temperature shift increases with increasing pressure. The relationship between the Raman CH₄ν₁ band position and temperature and pressure determined here may be used to estimate the internal pressure in natural or synthetic CH₄-bearing fluid inclusions. This information, in turn, may be used to determine the density of pure CH₄ fluid inclusions and the salinity of CH₄-bearing aqueous inclusions.     

Calculation of the thermodynamic and geochemical consequences of nonideal mixing in the system H2O-CO2-NaCl on phase relations in geologic systems: Equation of state for H2O-CO2-NaCl fluids at high pressures and temperatures

Fluid inclusion analyses leave little doubt that solutions containing large concentrations of H₂O, CO₂, and electrolytes are involved in a wide range of geologic processes. Although the miscibility gap in the system H₂O-CO₂ occurs only at low temperatures, experimental data reported by Takenouchi and Kennedy (1965) and Gehrig (1980) indicate that the addition of 6 weight percent NaCl relative to H₂O + Nacl extends the region of immiscibility in the system H₂O-CO₂-NaC] to ≥700°C at 500 bars and mole fractions of CO₂ (X_CO2) ? 0.1. In contrast, addition of 20 weight percent NaCl relative to H₂O + NaCl at 700°C and 500 bars expands the miscibility gap to X_CO2 ? 0.2. At 2000 bars, addition of 20 and 35 weight percent NaCl relative to H₂O + NaCl causes the miscibility gap to extend to ~500° and ~700°C, respectively, at . The existence of the immiscible region in this high-pressure/temperature environment has a profound effect on temperatures of equilibration for metamorphic mineral assemblages (Bowers and Helgeson, 1983). To determine the extent to which nonideality in the ternary system affects these equilibria, the modified Redlich-Kwong (MRK.) equation of state was fit to pressure-volume-temperature data taken from Gehrig (1980) along pseudobinaries for which is constant. Fugacity coefficients of the components were then generated from the fugacity coefficient analog of the MRK equation of state and these coefficients were used together with solubility data to determine the compositions of the coexisting immiscible phases. The tie lines connecting the coexisting phases shift in orientation from nearly parallel to the H₂O-CO₂ binary at low temperatures to almost perpendicular to this binary at high temperatures.     

Dissociation constants and speciation in aqueous Li2SO4 and K2SO4 from measurements of electrical conductance to 673 K and 29 MPa

The electrical conductivities of aqueous solutions of Li₂SO₄ and K₂SO₄ have been measured at 523-673 K at 20-29 MPa in dilute solutions for molalities up to 2 × 10⁻² mol kg⁻¹. These conductivities have been fitted to the conductance equation of Turq, Blum, Bernard, and Kunz with a consensus mixing rule and mean spherical approximation activity coefficients. In the temperature interval 523-653 K, where the dielectric constant, ε, is greater than 14, the electrical conductance data can be fitted by a solution model which includes ion association to form , , and , where M is Li or K. The adjustable parameters of this model are the first and second dissociation constants of the M₂SO₄. For the 673 K and 300 kg m⁻³ state point where the Coulomb interactions are the strongest (dielectric constant, ε = 5), models with more extensive association give good fits to the data. In the case of the Li₂SO₄ model, including the multi-ion associate, , gave an extremely good fit to the conductance data.     

A potentiometric study of the stability of aqueous yttrium-acetate complexes from 25 to 175 °C and 1-1000 bar

The stability of yttrium-acetate (Y-Ac) complexes in aqueous solution was determined potentiometrically at temperatures 25-175 °C (at P_s) and pressures 1-1000 bar (at 25 and 75 °C). Measurements were performed using glass H⁺-selective electrodes in potentiometric cells with a liquid junction. The species YAc²⁺ and were found to dominate yttrium aqueous speciation in experimental solutions at 25-100 °C (log [Ac⁻] < −1.5, pH < 5.2), whereas at 125, 150 and 175 °C introduction of into the Y-Ac speciation model was necessary. The overall stability constants β_n were determined for the reaction

     

The effect of CO2 on the speciation of RbBr in solution at temperatures to 579 °C and pressures to 0.26 GPa

Carbon dioxide- and salt-bearing solutions are common in granulite, ore-forming and magmatic environments. The presence of CO₂ affects mineral solubilities, fluid miscibility, and viscosity and wetting properties, and is expected to affect salt speciation. EXAFS measurements of RbBr-H₂O-CO₂ fluids contained in corundum-osed synthetic fluid inclusions (SFLINCs) have been used to investigate the effect of CO₂ on salt speciation at temperatures to 579 °C and pressures to around 0.26 GPa.Forward modelling indicates that solute dehydration is difficult to distinguish from up to around 40% of Rb-Br ion-pairing, so results refer to the total number of nearest neighbours, which are likely to be mostly O present in waters of hydration, but may also include Br, if ion pairing is present. Additionally, results relate to the number of well-ordered neighbours in the first shell, because nearest neighbours with a high degree of disorder may be present but contribute minimally to the EXAFS signal. Analysis of the EXAFS results at the Rb edge for the CO₂-free solution is consistent with previous work and shows that the number of nearest neighbours for Rb in CO₂-free solutions decreases from 6 ± 0.6 to 1.4 ± 0.1 as temperature increases from 20 to 534 °C. The decrease is accompanied by a decrease in Rb-x bondlengths of 0.05 Å, where x is the first shell scatterer. Results for the CO₂-bearing solution are different to those for the CO₂-free solution. The number of nearest neighbours is 16 and 22% less than for the CO₂-bearing solution at 312 and 445 °C respectively. Changes in the numbers of nearest neighbours correlate well with calculated changes in the bulk solution dielectric constant; CO₂-bearing and CO₂-free solutions lie on the same trend, which suggests that it may be possible to calculate the number of nearest neighbours from dielectric constant. Rb-x bondlengths for the CO₂-bearing solution are statistically indistinguishable to those for the CO₂-free inclusions. Results for Br are worse quality than for Rb so EXAFS analysis could not be completed, however XANES spectra for CO₂-free and CO₂-bearing solutions are consistent with solute dehydration similar to that recorded by the Rb spectra. The conclusions of this study provide support for the notion that CO₂ has a fundamental effect on the mechanics of solubility, and that these effects should be incorporated into conceptual and quantitative thermodynamic models.     

Antimonous acid protonation/deprotonation equilibria in hydrothermal solutions to 300 °C

The ultraviolet spectra of dilute aqueous solutions of antimony (III) have been measured from 25 to 300 °C at the saturated vapour pressure. From these measurements, equilibrium constants were obtained for the following reactions:

H₃SbO₃⁰ ? H⁺ + H₂SbO₃⁻     

Molecular dynamics simulation of the CH4 and CH4-H2O systems up to 10 GPa and 2573 K

Based on our previous study of the intermolecular potential for pure H₂O and the strict evaluation of the competitive potential models for pure CH₄ and the ab initio fitting potential surface across CH₄-H₂O molecules in this study, we carried out more than two thousand molecular dynamics simulations for the PVTx properties of pure CH₄ and the CH₄-H₂O mixtures up to 2573 K and 10 GPa. Comparison of 1941 simulations with experimental PVT data for pure CH₄ shows an average deviation of 0.96% and a maximum deviation of 2.82%. The comparison of the results of 519 simulations of the mixtures with the experimental measurements reveals that the PVTx properties of the CH₄-H₂O mixtures generally agree with the extensive experimental data with an average deviation of 0.83% and 4% in maximum, which is equivalent to the experimental uncertainty. Moreover, the maximum deviation between the experimental data and the simulation results decreases to about 2% as temperature and pressure increase, indicating that the high accuracy of the simulation is well retained in the high temperature and pressure region.After the validation of the simulation method and the intermolecular potential models, we systematically simulated the PVTx properties of this binary system from 673 K and 0.05 GPa to 2573 K and 10 GPa. In order to integrate all the simulation results and the experimental data for the calculation of thermodynamic properties, an equation of state (EOS) is developed for the CH₄-H₂O system covering 673-2573 K and 0.01-10 GPa. Isochores for compositions <4 mol% CH₄ up to 773 K and 600 MPa are also determined in this paper. The program for the EOS can be downloaded from www.geochem-model.org/programs.htm.     

Heat capacities of aqueous sodium hydroxide/aluminate mixtures and prediction of the solubility constant of boehmite up to 300 °C

A modified commercial (Setaram C80) calorimeter has been used to measure the isobaric volumetric heat capacities of concentrated alkaline sodium aluminate solutions at ionic strengths from 1 to 6 mol kg⁻¹, with up to 40 mol.% substitution of hydroxide by aluminate, at temperatures from 50 to 300 °C and a pressure of 10 MPa. Apparent molar heat capacities for the mixtures, C_p?, derived from these data were found to depend linearly on the aluminate substitution level, i.e., they followed Young’s rule. These quantities were used to estimate the apparent molar heat capacities of pure, hypothetical sodium aluminate solutions, C_p? (‘NaAl(OH)₄’(aq)). Slopes of the Young’s rule plots were invariant with ionic strength at a given temperature but depended linearly on temperature. The heat capacities of ternary aqueous sodium hydroxide/aluminate mixtures could therefore be modelled using only two parameters in addition to those needed for the correlation of C_p? (NaOH(aq)) reported previously from these laboratories. An assessment of the standard thermodynamic quantities for boehmite, gibbsite and the aluminate ion yielded a set of recommended values that, together with the present heat capacity data, accurately predicts the solubility of gibbsite and boehmite at temperatures up to 300 °C.     

Solubility of Fe-ettringite (Ca6[Fe(OH)6]2(SO4)3 · 26H2O)

The solubility of Fe-ettringite (Ca₆[Fe(OH)₆]₂(SO₄)₃ · 26H₂O) was measured in a series of precipitation and dissolution experiments at 20 °C and at pH-values between 11.0 and 14.0 using synthesised material. A time-series study showed that equilibrium was reached within 180 days of ageing. After equilibrating, the solid phases were analysed by XRD and TGA while the aqueous solutions were analysed by ICP-OES (calcium, sulphur) and ICP-MS (iron). Fe-ettringite was found to be stable up to pH 13.0. At higher pH-values Fe-monosulphate (Ca₄[Fe(OH)₆]₂(SO₄) · 6H₂O) and Fe-monocarbonate (Ca₄[Fe(OH)₆]₂(CO₃) · 6H₂O) are formed. The solubilities of these hydrates at 25 °C are:      

Heat capacities of aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide and water ionization up to 300 °C at 10 MPa

A commercial (Setaram C80) calorimeter has been modified to measure the heat capacities of highly caustic solutions at temperatures up to 300 °C and pressures up to 20 MPa. The improvements have allowed more accurate determination of the isobaric volumetric heat capacities of chemically aggressive liquids at high temperatures. Test measurements with aqueous solutions of sodium chloride showed a reproducibility of about ±0.1%, with an accuracy of ∼0.3% or better, over the whole temperature range. Heat capacities of aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide at concentrations from 0.5 to 8 mol/kg were measured at temperatures from 50 to 300 °C and a pressure of 10 MPa. Apparent molar isobaric heat capacities of NaOH(aq) were calculated using densities determined previously for the same solutions by vibrating-tube densimetry. Standard state (infinite dilution) partial molar isobaric heat capacities of NaOH(aq) were obtained by extrapolation using an extended Redlich-Meyer equation. Values of the standard heat capacity change for the ionization of water up to 300 °C were derived by combining the present results with the literature data for HCl(aq) and NaCl(aq).     

Iron weathering products in a CO2 + (H2O or H2O2) atmosphere: Implications for weathering processes on the surface of Mars

Various iron-bearing primary phases and rocks have been weathered experimentally to simulate possible present and past weathering processes occurring on Mars. We used magnetite, monoclinic and hexagonal pyrrhotites, and metallic iron as it is suggested that meteoritic input to the martian surface may account for an important source of reduced iron. The phases were weathered in two different atmospheres: one composed of CO₂ + H₂O, to model the present and primary martian atmosphere, and a CO₂ + H₂O + H₂O₂ atmosphere to simulate the effect of strong oxidizing agents. Experiments were conducted at room temperature and a pressure of 0.75 atm. Magnetite is the only stable phase in the experiments and is thus likely to be released on the surface of Mars from primary rocks during weathering processes. Siderite, elemental sulfur, ferrous sulfates and ferric (oxy)hydroxides (goethite and lepidocrocite) are the main products in a water-bearing atmosphere, depending on the substrate. In the peroxide atmosphere, weathering products are dominated by ferric sulfates and goethite. A kinetic model was then developed for iron weathering in a water atmosphere, using the shrinking core model (SCM). This model includes competition between chemical reaction and diffusion of reactants through porous layers of secondary products. The results indicate that for short time scales, the mechanism is dominated by a chemical reaction with second order kinetics (k = 7.75 × 10⁻⁵ g⁻¹/h), whereas for longer time scales, the mechanism is diffusion-controlled (De_A = 2.71 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/h). The results indicate that a primary CO₂- and H₂O-rich atmosphere should favour sulfur, ferrous phases such as siderite or Fe²⁺-sulfates, associated with ferric (oxy)hydroxides (goethite and lepidocrocite). Further evolution to more oxidizing conditions may have forced these precursors to evolve into ferric sulfates and goethite/hematite.