Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamic Properties of Minerals in the Beo
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American Mineralogist, Volwne 71, pages 277-300, 1986 Phaseequilibria and thermodynamic properties of mineralsin the BeO-AlrO3-SiO2-H2O(BASH) system,with petrologicapplications Mlnx D. B.qnroN Department of Earth and SpaceSciences, University of California, Los Angeles,Los Angeles,California 90024 Ansrru,cr The phase relations and thermodynamic properties of behoite (Be(OH)r), bertrandite (BeoSirOr(OH)J, beryl (BerAlrSiuO,r),bromellite (BeO), chrysoberyl (BeAl,Oo), euclase (BeAlSiOo(OH)),and phenakite (BerSiOo)have been quantitatively evaluatedfrom a com- bination of new phase-equilibrium, solubility, calorimetric, and volumetric measurements and with data from the literature. The resulting thermodynamic model is consistentwith natural low-variance assemblagesand can be used to interpret many beryllium-mineral occurTences. Reversedhigh-pressure solid-media experimentslocated the positions of four reactions: BerAlrSiuO,,: BeAlrOo * BerSiOo+ 5SiO, (dry) 20BeAlSiOo(OH): 3BerAlrsi6or8+ TBeAlrOo+ 2BerSiOn+ l0HrO 4BeAlSiOo(OH)+ 2SiOr: BerAlrSiuO,,+ BeAlrOo+ 2H2O BerAlrSiuO,,+ 2AlrSiOs : 3BeAlrOa + 8SiO, (water saturated). Aqueous silica concentrationswere determined by reversedexperiments at I kbar for the following sevenreactions: 2BeO + H4SiO4: BerSiOo+ 2H2O 4BeO + 2HoSiOo: BeoSirO'(OH),+ 3HrO BeAlrOo* BerSiOo+ 5H4Sio4: Be3AlrSiuOr8+ loHro 3BeAlrOo+ 8H4SiO4: BerAlrSiuOrs+ 2AlrSiO5+ l6HrO 3BerSiOo+ 2AlrSiO5+ 7H4SiO4: 2BerAlrSiuOr8+ l4H2o aBeAlsioloH) + Bersio4 + 7H4sio4:2BerAlrsiuors + 14Hro 2BeAlrOo+ BerSiOo+ 3H4SiOo: 4BeAlSiOr(OH)+ 4HrO. The results of these experiments were combined with the heat capacitiesand entropies determined in a companion study and with data from the literature to estimate the ther- modynamic and thermophysical properties of the beryllium minerals. Eighty-six data sets containing over 1000independent observations were evaluatedusing the program eHASE2o. The values of G!rr,, (kJ/mol) and S!rr., (J/(K.mol)) with their uncertainties(2o) arebehoite -827.3(6.7),45.57(0.18);bertrandite -4300.6(1.6), I72.ll(0.77); anhydrousberyl -8500.4(3.8),346.7(4.7);chrysoberyl -2176.2(1.5), 66.25(0.30); euclase -2370.2(r.l), 89.1 l (0.a0);and phenakite- 2028.4(0.9), 63.43(0.27). The effect of water on the stability of beryl is treated as a purely volumetric interaction : - Gr, r ty*ous ueryt Gp, Ii anlyarcu. t" ryl P noiaZu, where Z*" is an effective volume for the fluid occluded by the beryl structure (14.1 cm3/ mol). Not only doesthis simple "bottle model" work as well for beryl as alternative, more sophisticatedmodels, in part owing to the lack of hydration data, it also appearsto work reasonablywell for cordierite. Beryl has a wide stability range consistent with its relative natural abundance. The stability field of beryl is greatly increasedby high fluid pressuresand by alkali-containing solid solutions. The assemblagechrysoberyl + quartz is stableonly at relatively high tem- peratures(>600"C) or with Poro ( P,.o,. At moderate pressureswith decreasingtemper- ature, euclasebecomes stable around 400'C. Euclasereplaces beryl in aluminum silicate- bearing assemblagesin the 300'C range. In the 200"C range, phenakite and bromellite hydrateto bertrandite and behoite,respectively, and pure beryl reactsto euclase+ quartz + bertrandite or phenakite. The predicted phaserelations are in good qualitative agreement 0003-004x/86/0304427 7 $02.00 277 278 BARTON:PHASE EQUILIBRIA IN THE BeO-A1,O,-SiO,-H,OSYSTEM with natural associations.Consideration of the effect of solid solution in beryl improves the agreement. In most geologicenvironments, externally imposed chemical potentials govern the sta- bility of beryllium minerals. As a result, minerals in this system are perhaps most useful as indicators of metasomatic variables. Euclase,for example, has a broad P-f shbility range, but is stable only in environments with unusually high alumina activities, thus accounting for its relative rarity. INrnoouc:ttoN kinds ofsubstitutions: speciesoccupying channel sites and Beryllium, one of the geochemicallyless abundant ele- speciessubstituting for the tetrahedral or octahedral cat- ments, occursas an essentialcomponent in more than 50 ions. The alkaliesoccur in beryl in amounts up to several minerals (Fleischer, 1980). Although rarely composing weight percent, occupying channel sites with chargebal- more than a small portion of any rock, beryllium minerals ancebeing accomplishedby substitution of other cations are fairly common, especiallyin differentiated felsic ig- in the framework sites and accompanied by adjoining neousand related metasomatic rocks. The variety of be- water moleculesin the channels(Hawthorne and eerni, ryllium minerals and their widespread occurrencemean 1977).Lithium, in coupled substitution with the channel that they can be useful petrologic indicators. alkalies,replaced beryllium (Hawthorne and eern!, 1977). Ofthe beryllium minerals,the most common and hence Water, in addition to accompanyingthe alkalies, also oc- the most petrologically and economically important be- cupiesthe channel cavities in a manner similar to that in long to the system BeO-AlrOr-SiOr-HrO (BASH). Over cordierite (Schreyerand Yoder, 1964; Aines and Ross- twenty phasesoccur in this system,and those of geologic man, 1984).Both of these substitutions have a profound interest are listed in Table l. The AlrOr-SiOr-HrO system effect on the stability of beryl. In addition to the alkalies has been intensively studied, and its phase relations are and water, up to several weight percent of magnesium, well understood (seerecent data and reviews by Hemley manganese,iron, and chromium are found in someberyls. et al., 1980; Perkinset al., 19791,thermodynamic com- The iron occupiesboth channel positions and substitutes pilation by Robinson etal.,1982). Thesestudies propose for aluminum in the octahedralsites, whereas chromium, similar phasediagrams for the ASH systemand thus pro- magnesium,and manganesesubstitute for the aluminum vide a reasonablebasis for addition of the component (Goldman et al., 1978;Nassau and Wood, 1968; Wood BeO. and Nassau,1968; Gibbs et al., 1968).Helium, carbon Relatively few thermochemical data are available for dioxide, and argon have also been found in beryl (Beus, beryllium-bearingphases. In this study, phaseequilibrium l 966). and solubility experimentswere performed to provide the Spectroscopicdata on beryl and cordierite suggestthat information neededalong with data from the literature to water occupiestwo distinct positions at low temperatures, derive an internally consistentthermodynamic model for one with the H-H vector normal to c and "sitting" in the phasesin the system.This model, in turn, is used to cal- rings betweenthe large cavities (Type II), the other with culate a petrogeneticgrid for the BASH system and re- the H-H vector parallel to c and located in the large cav- actions in more complex systems. From these calcula- ities (Type I, Wood and Nassau,1968). The abundance tions, deductions can be made about the petrogenesisof of Type II water correlateswell with the alkali content; rocks containing minerals in this system. this correlation leadsto the suggestionthat there is bond- Figure I showsthe phasesconsideredin this study pro- ing betweenthem (Goldman et al., 1978; Hawthorne and jected from water. Of thesephases, only beryl hasa widely Cern!, 1977;Wood and Nassau,1968). Aines and Ross- variable composition. The aluminum silicatescan accept man (1984) have shown that with increasingtemperature small amounts of transition metals, and kaolinite, pyro- thesetwo types of water decreasein quantity with equi- phyllite, and diasporemay contain small amounts ofhalo- librium partitioning favoring a third state that has the gens substituting for hydroxyl, but their compositional spectroscopiccharacteristics ofa gas (not bonded or ori- variations are small. Chrysoberyl can contain substantial ented on an IR time scale). iron, chromium, and manganesesubstituting for alumi- Many crystallographicstructure refinementshave been num, but in most casesthis substitution is small (Vlasov, done on phasesin this system(Ross, 1964; R. M. Hazen 1967,Vol. III). Euclaseand phenakiteare uniformly close et al., unpub.). None suggeststhat there is any disorder to their ideal compositions.Ganguli and Saha(1967) re- among the tetrahedralspecies. The mineralogic properties ported that synthetic bertrandite can contain Be(OH) of the beryllium minerals were recently reviewed by Burt considerablyin excessof the ideal formula, but analyses (1982). of natural bertrandites show no evidence of nonstoi- Thermodynamic data have been measuredfor some of chiometry. the beryllium phasesin this system.Low-temperature heat- Beryl, in contrast to the other phases,exhibits a wide capacity measurementshave been performed on phen- rangeof compositional variation, as a consequenceoftwo akite by Kelley (1939) and on chrysoberyl by Furukawa BARTON: PHASE EQUILIBRIA IN THE BeO-AIO,-SiO,-H,O SYSTEM 279 Table 1. Names, abbreviations,and formulas of some phases of geologicinterest in the BeO-AlrOr-SiOr-HrO system Abbr. Fomula Abbr. Fomul a Diaspore Di Aro(olr) Aluminumsilicate Als At2sio5 Andalusite And Al^si0. Euclase Eu BeAlSi 04(0H) Gibbsite Gb Ar(0H) Behoite Bh Be(0H)z 3 And,Kya,Sil Bertrandite Bt Be4siz07(0H)2 Kaolinite Ka Ar2siZ0s(oH)4 Kyanite Kya AI Beryl Be Be3Al25i 601 8.nH20 25i05 Beryl l'i te Bl Be3si04(0H)2.H20Phenakite Ph 8e,,5i 0, BromelI ite Br Be0 Pyrophyllite Py Ar2si4oto(oH)2 chrysoberyl ch BeAl Quartz Qz si02 "0, Alro, Corundum co At^0. Si I I