A MODEL FOR 18O/16O VARIATIONS IN CO2 EVOLVED FROM GOETHITE DURING THE SOLID-STATE α-FEOOH TO α-FE2O3 PHASE TRANSITION

Abstract

“Plateau” δ18O values of CO2 that evolved from the Fe(CO3)OH component during isothermal vacuum dehydrations (200–230 °C) of 18 natural goethites range from 8.2 to 28.1‰. In contrast, the measured δ18O values of the goethite structural oxygen range from −11.3 to 1.7‰. The results of this study indicate that the apparent oxygen isotope fractionation factor (18αapp) between plateau CO2 and initial goethite is systematically related to the rate of isothermal vacuum dehydration. The nonlinear correlation and the magnitudes of the 18αapp values are predicted by a relatively simple mass balance model with the following assumptions: (1) the rate of isothermal vacuum dehydration of goethite (for the interval from 0 to ~60 to 80% loss of structural hydroxyl hydrogen) can be reasonably well represented by first-order kinetics and (2) isotopic exchange between evolving H2O vapor and solid occurs only in successive, local transition states. The generally good correspondence between the model predictions and the experimental data seems to validate these assumptions. Thus, the 18O/16O ratios of the evolved CO2 can act as probes into the transient processes operating at the molecular level during the solid-state goethite-to-hematite phase transition. For example, the activation energy for the rate constant associated with the transition state, oxygen isotopic exchange between solid and H2O vapor, is tentatively estimated as 28 ± 11 KJ/mol. Such knowledge may be of consequence in understanding the significance of 18O/16O ratios in hematites from some natural environments (e.g., Mars?).