Time-dependent changes of the electrical conductivity of basaltic melts with redox state

The electrical conductivity of basaltic melts has been measured in real-time after fO₂ step-changes in order to investigate redox kinetics. Experimental investigations were performed at 1 atm in a vertical furnace between 1200 and 1400 °C using air, pure CO₂ or CO/CO₂ gas mixtures to buffer oxygen fugacity in the range 10⁻⁸ to 0.2 bars. Ferric/ferrous ratios were determined by wet chemical titrations. A small but detectable effect of fO₂ on the electrical conductivity is observed. The more reduced the melt, the higher the conductivity. A modified Arrhenian equation accounts for both T and fO₂ effects on the electrical conductivity. We show that time-dependent changes in electrical conductivity following fO₂ step-changes monitor the rate of Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ changes. The conductivity change with time corresponds to a diffusion-limited process in the case of reduction in CO-CO₂ gas mixtures and oxidation in air. However, a reaction at the gas-melt interface probably rate limits oxidation of the melt under pure CO₂. Reduction and oxidation rates are similar and both increase with temperature. Those rates range from 10⁻⁹ to 10⁻⁸ m²/s for the temperature interval 1200-1400 °C and show activation energy of about 200 kJ/mol. The redox mechanism that best explains our results involves a cooperative motion of cations and oxygen, allowing such fast oxidation-reduction rates.