The electrical conductivity of olivine under highly reducing conditions

The electrical conductivity of San Carlos olivine has been measured at 1100 °C under reducing conditions at controlled oxygen fugacity, inside and outside the olivine stability field, in order to study the kinetics of olivine destabilization. Electrical conductivity increases along the direction 010] and decreases along 001]. as oxygen fugacity decreases. To understand these dependences, electrical conductivity transitory regimes were studied. In response to decreases in oxygen fugacity, two transient regimes with different time scales have been observed. A fast (≈1–2 min) increase of electrical conductivity is first observed, followed by a slower decrease (1–10 h, depending on the crystal orientation). After a few hours of annealing, precipitation of metallic iron and nickel and formation of amorphous silica can be observed at the crystal surface. The fast conductivity increase in the first transient regime is ascribed to an increase in the population of electrons at the olivine surface. Two effects: (1) equilibration of surface defects with the bulk of the crystal, and (2) iron loss from the olivine due to metal precipitation, could explain the subsequent decrease of electrical conductivity. Anisotropic diffusion of surface defects to the bulk of the crystal, by a process faster than atomic diffusion is the most likely. Received: 3 September 1997 / Revised, accepted: 16 April 1998