THE LOW-PRESSURE STABILITY OF PHASE A, MG7SI2O8(OH)6

Abstract

Phase A, Mg7Si2O8(OH)6, is a dense hydrous magnesium silicate whose importance as a host of H2O in the Earth’s mantle is a subject of debate. We have investigated the low-pressure stability of phase A in experiments on the reaction phase A=brucite+forsterite. Experiments were conducted in piston-cylinder and multi-anvil apparatus, using mixtures of synthetic phase A, brucite and forsterite. The reaction was bracketed between 2.60 and 2.75 GPa at 500° C, between 3.25 and 3.48 GPa at 600° C and between 3.75 and 3.95 GPa at 650° C. These pressures are much lower than observed in the synthesis experiments of Yamamoto and Akimoto (1977). At 750° C the stability field of brucite + chondrodite was entered. The enthalpy of formation and entropy of phase A at 1 bar (105 Pa), 298 K, were derived from the experimental brackets on the reaction phase A=brucite+forsterite using a modified version of the thermodynamic dataset THERMOCALC of Holland and Powell (1990), which includes a new equation of state of H2O derived from the molecular dynamics simulations of Brodholt and Wood (1993). The data for phase A are: ΔH of =−7126±8 kJ mol-1, S o=351 J K-1 mol-1. Incorporating these data into THERMOCALC allows the positions of other reactions involving phase A to be calculated, for example the reaction phase A + enstatite=forsterite+vapour, which limits the stability of phase A in equilibrium with enstatite. The calculated position of this reaction (753° C at 7 GPa to 937° C at 10 GPa) is in excellent agreement with the experimental brackets of Luth (1995) between 7 and 10 GPa, supporting the choice of equation of state of H2O used in THERMOCALC. Comparison of our results with calculated P-T paths of subducting slabs (Peacock et al. 1994) suggests that, in the system MgO–SiO2–H2O, phase A could crystallise in compositions with Mg/Si>2 at pressures as low as 3 GPa. In less Mg rich compositions phase A could crystallise at pressures above approximately 6 GPa.