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1. High-temperature Stability of an Iron-rich Smectite: Implications for Smectite Formation on Mars

   Jenkins, D.M. ; DePasquale, B.M. ( December 2020 , American Geophysical Union meeting, Fall 2020 Meeting)

   null (Ed.)

   Iron-rich phyllosilicates on Mars comprise nearly 90% of the H2O- and OH-bearing phases observed directly by rovers and remotely by orbiters (Chemtob et al., 2017, JGR). Theories concerning the possible origin of Fe-rich smectite during Mars’ earliest history (phyllosian) are hard to test because of limited knowledge of the upper-thermal stability of Fe-rich phyllosilicates. In this study we present data on the upper-thermal stability of a pure-iron smectite to put some minimum constraints on its possible high-temperature origin early in Mars history either from a primordial atmosphere or by hydrothermal activity. Smectite coexisting with quartz and magnetite was synthesized from the oxides in the system Na2O-FeO-Fe2O3-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O at 500°C and 2 kbar and fO2 near FMQ. Reversal experiments involved mixtures with equal portions of the smectite-synthesis and breakdown products (quartz, fayalite, albite, magnetite (mt) treated in the presence of about 10 wt% H2O over the range of 1-3 kbar and 530-640°C. The average composition (electron microprobe) of smectite formed both in synthesis and in reversal experiments was Na0.35(Fe2+2.28Fe3+0.31Al0.41)(Al1.07Si2.93)O10(OH)2·nH2O, where ferric iron was calculated by summing the octahedral cations to 3.0. Reversals for the reaction smec+mt1 = fayalite+albite+mt2+quartz+H2O were obtained at 538±8, 590±10, and 610±10°C at 1, 2, and 3 kbar, respectively, where mt1 and mt2 have the approximate compositions Fe2.8Si0.2O4 and Fe2.8Al0.1O4, respectively, with all other phases being pure. This smectite has up to 2 interlayer H2O at 25°C (and high humidity), losing 1 H2O at <50°C, and the second at 125 ± 25°C. Thermodynamic modeling of this reaction was used to extrapolate the upper-thermal stability of this Fe-smectite down to 10 bars and approximately 239°C. Applications of these results indicate the maximum temperature for forming Fe-smectite from a dense primordial atmosphere of 100 bars is 390 ± 25°C. Crustal storage of water in Fe-smectite ranges up to a maximum of 10.7 wt% at ~2 km and 40°C, 7.4 wt% at 6 km and 120°C, and 3.8 wt% H2O at 32 km and 625°C for a Noachian geotherm of 20°C/km. Plain language summary: This study presents experimental limits on the temperatures at which the clay mineral smectite might form on Mars, either from a dense primordial atmosphere (390°C at 100 bars) or by high-temperature hydrothermal activity (625°C at 32 km). Because this study deals with iron end-member clay, these are minimum temperatures; any solid solution with magnesium will increase these temperatures. 

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2. Isotopic fractionation accompanying CO2 hydroxylation and carbonate precipitation from high pH waters at The Cedars, California, USA

   https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.01.003  

   Christensen, J. ( January 2021 , Geochimica)

   Teagle, Damon A (Ed.)

   The Cedars ultramafic block hosts alkaline springs (pH > 11) in which calcium carbonate forms upon uptake of atmospheric CO2 and at times via mixing with surface water. These processes lead to distinct carbonate morphologies with ‘‘floes” forming at the atmosphere-water interface, ‘‘snow” of fine particles accumulating at the bottom of pools and terraced constructions of travertine. Floe material is mainly composed of aragonite needles despite CaCO3 precipitation occurring in waters with low Mg/Ca (<0.01). Precipitation of aragonite is likely promoted by the high pH (11.5–12.0) of pool waters, in agreement with published experiments illustrating the effect of pH on calcium carbonate polymorph selection. The calcium carbonates exhibit an extreme range and approximately 1:1 covariation in d13C (
   9 to
   28‰ VPDB) and d18O (0 to
   20‰ VPDB) that is characteristic of travertine formed in high pH waters. The large isotopic fractionations have previously been attributed to kinetic isotope effects accompanying CO2 hydroxylation but the controls on the d13C-d18O endmembers and slope have not been fully resolved, limiting the use of travertine as a paleoenvironmental archive. The limited areal extent of the springs (0.5 km2) and the limited range of water sources and temperatures, combined with our sampling strategy, allow us to place tight constraints on the processes involved in generating the systematic C and O isotope variations. We develop an isotopic reaction–diffusion model and an isotopic box model for a CO2-fed solution that tracks the isotopic composition of each dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) species and CaCO3. The box model includes four sources or sinks of DIC (atmospheric CO2, high pH spring water, fresh creek water, and CaCO3 precipitation). Model parameters are informed by new floe D44Ca data (
   0.75 ± 0.07‰), direct mineral growth rate measurements (4.8 to 8  10
   7 mol/m2/s) and by previously published elemental and isotopic data of local water and DIC sources. Model results suggest two processes control the extremes of the array: (1) the isotopically light end member is controlled by the isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 and the kinetic isotope fractionation factor (KFF (‰) = (a
   1)  1000) accompanying CO2 hydroxylation, estimated here to be
   17.1 ± 0.8‰ (vs. CO2(aq)) for carbon and
   7.1 ± 1.1‰ (vs. ‘CO2(aq)+H2O’) for oxygen at 17.4 ± 1.0
   C. Combining our results with revised CO2 hydroxylation KFF values based on previous work suggests consistent KFF values of
   17.0 ± 0.3‰ (vs. CO2(aq)) for carbon and
   6.8 ± 0.8‰ for oxygen (vs. ‘CO2(aq)+H2O’) over the 17–28
   C temperature range. (2) The isotopically heavy endmember of calcium carbonates at The Cedars reflects the composition of isotopically equilibrated DIC from creek or surface water (mostly HCO- 3, pH = 7.8–8.7) that occasionally mixes with the high-pH spring water. The bulk carbonate d13C and d18O values of modern and ancient travertines therefore reflect the proportion of calcium carbonate formed by processes (1) and (2), with process (2) dominating the carbonate precipitation budget at The Cedars. These results show that recent advances in understanding kinetic isotope effects allow us to model complicated but common natural processes, and suggest ancient travertine may be used to retrieve past meteoric water d18O and atmospheric d13C values. There is evidence that older travertine at The Cedars recorded atmospheric d13C that predates large-scale combustion of fossil fuels. 

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3. An ab-initio study on the thermodynamics of disulfide, sulfide, and bisulfide incorporation into apatite and the development of a more comprehensive temperature, pressure, pH, and composition-dependent model for ionic substitution in minerals

   https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8250  

   Kim, YoungJae ; Konecke, Brian ; Simon, Adam ; Fiege, Adrian ; Becker, Udo ( November 2022 , American Mineralogist)

   The mineral apatite, Ca10(PO4)6(F,OH,Cl)2, incorporates sulfur (S) during crystallization from S-bearing hydrothermal fluids and silicate melts. Our previous studies of natural and experimental apatite demonstrate that the oxidation state of S in apatite varies systematically as a function of oxygen fugacity (fO2). The S oxidation states –1 and –2 were quantitatively identified in apatite crystallized from reduced, S-bearing hydrothermal fluids and silicate melts by using sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (S-XANES) where S 6+/ΣS in apatite increases from ~0 at FMQ-1 to ~1 at FMQ+2, where FMQ refers to the fayalite-magnetite-quartz fO2 buffer. In this study, we employ quantum-mechanical calculations to investigate the atomistic structure and energetics of S(-I) and S(-II) incorporated into apatite and elucidate incorporation mechanisms.

   One S(-I) species (disulfide, S22−) and two S(-II) species (bisulfide, HS−, and sulfide, S2−) are investigated as possible forms of reduced S species in apatite. In configuration models for the simulation, these reduced S species are positioned along the c-axis channel, originally occupied by the column anions F, Cl, and OH in the end-member apatites. In the lowest-energy configurations of S-incorporated apatite, disulfide prefers to be positioned halfway between the mirror planes at z = 1/4 and 3/4. In contrast, the energy-optimized bisulfide is located slightly away from the mirror planes by ~0.04 fractional units in the c direction. The energetic stability of these reduced S species as a function of position along the c-axis can be explained by the geometric and electrostatic constraints of the Ca and O planes that constitute the c-axis channel.

   The thermodynamics of incorporation of disulfide and bisulfide into apatite is evaluated by using solid-state reaction equations where the apatite host and a solid S-bearing source phase (pyrite and Na2S2(s) for disulfide; troilite and Na2S(s) for sulfide) are the reactants, and the S-incorporated apatite and an anion sink phase are the products. The Gibbs free energy (ΔG) is lower for incorporation with Na-bearing phases than with Fe-bearing phases, which is attributed to the higher energetic stability of the iron sulfide minerals as a source phase for S than the sodium sulfide phases. The thermodynamics of incorporation of reduced S is also evaluated by using reaction equations involving dissolved disulfide and sulfide species [HnS(aq)(2−n) and HnS(aq)(2−n); n = 0, 1, and 2] as a source phase. The ΔG of S-incorporation increases for fluorapatite and chlorapatite, and decreases for hydroxylapatite, as these species are protonated (i.e., as n changes from 0 to 2). These thermodynamic results demonstrate that the presence of reduced S in apatite is primarily controlled by the chemistry of magmatic and hydrothermal systems where apatite forms (e.g., an abundance of Fe; solution pH). Ultimately, our methodology developed for evaluating the thermodynamics of S incorporation in apatite as a function of temperature, pH, and composition is highly applicable to predicting the trace and volatile element incorporation in minerals in a variety of geological systems. In addition to solid-solid and solid-liquid equilibria treated here at different temperatures and pH, the methodology can be easily extended to different pressure conditions by just performing the quantum-mechanical calculations at elevated pressures.

    

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4. An ab-initio study on the thermodynamics of disulfide, sulfide, and bisulfide incorporation into apatite and the development of a more comprehensive temperature, pressure, pH, and composition-dependent model for ionic substitution in minerals

   Young Jae Kim, Brian Konecke ( September 2022 , The American mineralogist)

   The mineral apatite, Ca10(PO4)6(F,OH,Cl)2, incorporates sulfur (S) during crystallization from S-bearing hydrothermal fluids and silicate melts. Our previous studies of natural and experimental apatite demonstrate that the oxidation state of S in apatite varies systematically as a function of oxygen fugacity (fO2). The S oxidation states –1 and –2 were quantitatively identified in apatite crystallized from reduced, S-bearing hydrothermal fluids and silicate melts by using sulfur K-edge X‑ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (S-XANES) where S6+/ΣS in apatite increases from ~0 at FMQ-1 to ~1 at FMQ+2, where FMQ refers to the fayalite-magnetite-quartz fO2 buffer. In this study, we employ quantum-mechanical calculations to investigate the atomistic structure and energetics of S(-I) and S(-II) incorporated into apatite and elucidate incorporation mechanisms. One S(-I) species (disulfide, S22−) and two S(-II) species (bisulfide, HS−, and sulfide, S2−) are investigated as possible forms of reduced S species in apatite. In configuration models for the simulation, these reduced S species are positioned along the c-axis channel, originally occupied by the column anions F, Cl, and OH in the end-member apatites. In the lowest-energy configurations of S-incorporated apatite, disulfide prefers to be positioned halfway between the mirror planes at z = 1/4 and 3/4. In contrast, the energy-optimized bisulfide is located slightly away from the mirror planes by ~0.04 fractional units in the c direction. The energetic stability of these reduced S species as a function of position along the c-axis can be explained by the geometric and electrostatic constraints of the Ca and O planes that constitute the c-axis channel. The thermodynamics of incorporation of disulfide and bisulfide into apatite are evaluated by using solid-state reaction equations where the apatite host and a solid S-bearing source phase (pyrite and Na2S2(s) for disulfide; troilite and Na2S(s) for sulfide) are the reactants, and the S-incorporated apatite and an anion sink phase are the products. The Gibbs free energy (ΔG) is lower for incorporation with Na-bearing phases than with Fe-bearing phases, which is attributed to the higher energetic stability of the iron sulfide minerals as a source phase for S than the sodium sulfide phases. The thermodynamics of incorporation of reduced S are also evaluated by using reaction equations involving dissolved disulfide and sulfide species [HnS2(aq)(2–n) and HnS(aq)(2–n); n = 0, 1, and 2] as a source phase. The ΔG of S-incorporation increases for fluorapatite and chlorapatite and decreases for hydroxylapatite as these species are protonated (i.e., as n changes from 0 to 2). These thermodynamic results demonstrate that the presence of reduced S in apatite is primarily controlled by the chemistry of magmatic and hydrothermal systems where apatite forms (e.g., an abundance of Fe; solution pH). Ultimately, our methodology developed for evaluating the thermodynamics of S incorporation in apatite as a function of temperature, pH, and composition is highly applicable to predicting the trace and volatile element incorporation in minerals in a variety of geological systems. In addition to solid-solid and solid-liquid equilibria treated here at different temperatures and pH, the methodology can be easily extended also to different pressure conditions by just performing the quantum-mechanical calculations at elevated pressures. 

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5. Eclogite thermobarometry: The consistency between conventional thermobarometry and forward phase‐equilibrium modelling

   https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12747  

   Hernández‐Uribe, David ; Holder, Robert M. ; Hernández‐Montenegro, Juan D. ( October 2023 , Journal of Metamorphic Geology)

   Eclogite thermobarometry is crucial for constraining the depths and temperatures to which oceanic and continental crust subduct. However, obtaining the pressure and temperature (P–T) conditions of eclogites is complex as they commonly display high‐variance mineral assemblages, and the mineral compositions only vary slightly withP–T. In this contribution, we present a comparison between two independent and commonly used thermobarometric approaches for eclogites: conventional thermobarometry and forward phase‐equilibrium modelling. We assess how consistent the thermobarometric calculations are using the garnet–clinopyroxene–phengite barometer and garnet–clinopyroxene thermometer with predictions from forward modelling (i.e. comparing the relative differences between approaches). Our results show that the overall mismatch in methods is typically ±0.2–0.3 GPa and ±29–42°C although differences as large as 80°C and 0.7 GPa are possible for a few narrow ranges ofP–Tconditions in the forward models. Such mismatch is interpreted as the relative differences among methods, and not as absolute uncertainties or accuracies for either method. For most of the investigatedP–Tconditions, the relatively minor differences between methods means that the choice in thermobarometric method itself is less important for geological interpretation than careful sample characterization and petrographic interpretation for derivingP–Tfrom eclogites. Although thermobarometry is known to be sensitive to the assumedX_Fe³⁺of a rock (or mineral), therelativedifferences between methods are not particularly sensitive to the choice of bulk‐rockX_Fe³⁺, except at high temperatures (>650°C, amphibole absent) and for very large differences in assumedX_Fe³⁺(0–0.5). We find that the most important difference between approaches is the activity–composition (a–x) relations, as opposed to the end‐member thermodynamic data or other aspects of experimental calibration. When equivalenta–xrelations are used in the conventional barometer,Pcalculations are nearly identical to phase‐equilibrium models (ΔP < 0.1). To further assess the implications of these results for real rocks, we also evaluate common mathematical optimizations of reaction constants used for obtaining the maximumP–Twith conventional thermobarometric approaches (e.g. using the highestaGrs² × aPrp in garnet and Si content in phengite, and the lowestaDi in clinopyroxene). These approaches should be used with caution, because they may not represent the compositions of equilibrium mineral assemblages at eclogite facies conditions and therefore systematically biasP–Tcalculations. Assuming method accuracy, geological meaningfulP_maxat a typical eclogite facies temperature of ~660°C will be obtained by using the greatestaDi,aCel, andaPrp and lowestaGrs andaMs; garnet and clinopyroxene with the lowest Fe²⁺/Mg ratios may yield geological meaningfulT_maxat a typical eclogite facies pressure of 2.5 GPa.

    

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