Formation of Water-Bearing Defects in Olivine in the Presence of Water–Hydrocarbon Fluid at 6.3 GPa and 1200°C

Abstract

The main trends of water dissolution in Fe-bearing olivine have been investigated in the olivine–H₂O–hydrocarbon fluid system in experiments at a pressure of 6.3 GPa, a temperature of 1200°C, and hydrogen fugacity ( fH₂) buffered by the Mo–MoO₂ equilibrium. The content and contribution of ОH defects of different types in Fe-bearing olivines depend on the composition of reduced fluids in the system. As the fraction of hydrocarbons in the fluid increases, the H₂O content in olivine crystals decreases from 900 to 160–180 ppm, while the ОН absorption peaks become lower at high frequencies and occupy a larger part of the infrared spectrum in the low-frequency region. According to the experimental results, even the deepest seated mantle olivines with OH defects were not equilibrated with a fluid rich in light alkanes or oxygenated hydrocarbons.