Boffa-Ballaran, Tiziana

DOE OSTI2022

Thermoelastic properties of zircon: Implications for geothermobarometry

Abstract A thermal-pressure equation of state has been determined for zircon (ZrSiO4) that characterizes its thermoelastic behavior at metamorphic conditions. New pressure-volume (P-V) data from a “Mud Tank” zircon have been collected from 1 bar to 8.47(1) GPa using X-ray diffraction, and elastic moduli were measured from room temperature up to 1172 K by resonance ultrasound spectroscopy. These data were fitted simultaneously with temperature-volume (T-V) data from the literature in EosFit7c using a new scaling technique. The parameters of a third-order Birch-Murnaghan EoS with a Mie-Grüneisen-Debye model for thermal pressure have compressional EoS parameters K0T = 224.5(1.2) GPa, K0T' = 4.90(31) with a fixed initial molar volume V0 = 39.26 cm3/mol and thermal parameters γ0 = 0.868(15), q = 2.37(80), and ΘD = 848(38) K. EoS parameters that describe the variation of unit-cell parameters with pressure and temperature were determined using an isothermal-type EoS. This new EoS confirms that zircons are stiffer than garnets and exhibit a much lower thermal expansion. This results in steep isomekes between zircon and garnets, which makes zircon trapped as inclusions in garnets at metamorphic conditions a good piezothermometer.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗

DOE OSTI2020

Equations of state, phase relations, and oxygen fugacity of the Ru-RuO 2 buffer at high pressures and temperatures

Experimental studies and measurements of inclusions in diamonds show that ferric iron components are increasingly stabilized with depth in the mantle. To determine the thermodynamic stability of such components, their concentration needs to be measured at known oxygen fugacities. The metal-oxide pair Ru and RuO 2 are ideal as an internal oxygen fugacity buffer in high-pressure experiments. Both phases remain solid to high temperatures and react minimally with silicates, only exchanging oxygen. To calculate oxygen fugacities at high pressure and temperature, however, requires information on the phase relations and equation of state properties of the solid phases. We have made in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements in a multi-anvil press on mixtures of Ru and RuO 2 to 19.4 GPa and 1473 K with which we have determined phase relations of the RuO 2 phases and derived thermal equations of state (EoS) parameters for both Ru and RuO 2 . Rutile-structured RuO 2 was found to undergo two phase transformations, first at ~7 GPa to an orthorhombic structure and then above 12 GPa to a cubic structure. The phase boundary of the cubic phase was constrained for the first time at high pressure and temperature. We have derived a continuous Gibbs free energy expression for the tetragonal and orthorhombic phases of RuO 2 by fitting the second-order phase transition boundary and P-V-T data for both phases, using a model based on Landau theory. The transition between the orthorhombic and cubic phases was then used along with EoS terms derived for both phases to determine a Gibbs free energy expression for the cubic phase. We have used these data to calculate the oxygen fugacity of the Ru + O 2 = RuO 2 equilibrium, which we have parameterized as a single polynomial across the stability fields of all three phases of RuO 2 . The expression is log 10 f O 2 (Ru – RuO 2 ) = (7.782 – 0.00996P + 0.001932P 2 – 3.76 × 10 –5 P 3 ) + (–13 763 + 592P – 3.955P 2 )/T + (–1.05 × 10 6 – 4622P)/T 2 , which should be valid from room pressure up to 25 GPa and 773–2500 K, with an estimated uncertainty of 0.2 log units. Our calculated fO 2 is shown to be up to 1 log unit lower than estimates that use previous expressions or ignore EoS terms.

Armstrong, Katherine↗