INVESTIGATION OF THE NOBLE GAS SOLUBILITY IN H2O-CO2 BEARING SILICATE LIQUIDS AT MODERATE PRESSURE II: THE EXTENDED IONIC POROSITY (EIP) MODEL

Abstract

A semi-theoretical model is proposed to predict partitioning of noble gases between any silicate liquid and a H2O-CO2 gas phase with noble gas as a minor component, in a large range of pressures (at least up to 300 MPa). The model is based on the relationship between the concentration of dissolved noble gas and ionic porosity of the melt, found by Carroll and Stolper [Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 57 (1993) 5039-5051] for H2O-CO2 free melts. It evaluates the effect of dissolved H2O and CO2 on the melt ionic porosity and, consequently on Henry's constants of noble gases. The fugacities of the noble gases in the H2O-CO2-noble gas mixtures are also considered in our equilibrium calculations of dissolved gas by using a modified Redlich-Kwong equation of state for the H2O-CO2-noble gas system. The formulated model (referred to as the extended ionic porosity model) clearly predicts a positive dependence of noble gas solubility on dissolved H2O in melt, which becomes negligible when water concentration is higher than 3 wt%. Oppositely, noble gas solubility decreases as a consequence of increasing CO2 in both basaltic and rhyolitic melts. The increase of noble gas solubility as a consequence of H2O addition to the melt grows exponentially with the increase of the noble gas atomic size. As a result, although xenon solubility is much lower than the helium solubility in anhydrous melts, they become almost comparable at several percent of dissolved H2O in the melt. On this basis, an exponential augmentation of the number of large free spaces in silicate liquid can be inferred in relation to increasing dissolved H2O. Comparison between our predicted values and available experimental data [A. Paonita et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 181 (2000) 595-604] shows good agreement. At present, the EIP model is the unique tool which predicts how the main volatiles in magmatic systems affect the noble gas solubility in silicate melts, therefore it should be taken into account for future studies of noble gas fractionation in degassing natural magmas.