Hydrogen isotopic fractionation factor between brucite and water in the temperature range from 100° to 510° C

The hydrogen isotopic fractionation factor between brucite and water has been determined in the temperature range of 100°–510° C. Brucite is always depleted in deuterium relative to the coexisting water, and the degree of depletion becomes larger with decreasing temperature. The fractionation factor changes smoothly in the temperature range of 144°–510° C and its temperature dependence was obtained by the method of least square fit in the following form: 10³In=8.72×10⁶ T ^–2–3.86×10⁴ T ^–1+14.5However, a marked decrease of about 5 was observed at 100°–144° C. The D/H fractionation factor for the brucite-water system is not similar to that for serpentine-water system presented by Sakai and Tsutsumi (1978), though all the hydroxyl ions coordinate to magnesium ion in both minerals. This discrepancy cannot be attributed to hydrogen bonding but to distortion of Mg-octahedron of serpentine, in which the Mg-OH bonding length is shorter than the sum of ionic radius of Mg²⁺ and O^2– and there is no distortion in brucite. It is indicated that aside from hydrogen bonding, the structure effect also controls the D/H fractionation between hydrous mineral and water.