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Title: Diffusion in single crystals of melilite: 2. Cations

Journal Article · · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States)
 [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Tokyo Yayoi (Japan)
  2. Gakushiun Univ. Mejiro, Tokyo (Japan)

Diffusion coefficients of divalent cations, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Ca, Sr, and Ba, in synthetic akermanite were determined by tracer-diffusion experiments. Diffusion coefficients of cation paris, Al + Al-Mg + Si, Al + Al-Co + Si, and Mg-Co in melilite solid-solution systems, were determined by coupled annealing of synthetic melilites of endmember compositions. Cobalt tracer diffuses slower along the c-crystallographic axis than along the a-axis by a factor of about three, possibly due to the anisotropic sheet-like arrangement of oxygen ions parallel to the (001) plane which is perpendicular to the c-axis in the crystal structure of melilite. In the coupled diffusion experiments, the cation pairs interdiffuse complementary, as expected for conservation of material and ionic charge balance in the substitution. The observed trend in the inter-diffusion coefficient vs. melting temperature relations is similar to those observed for alloys and consistent with an empirical rule for self-diffusion coefficient-melting temperature relation. In the diffusion coefficient vs. ionic radius diagram for divalent cation diffusion in akermanite, smooth curves were observed as in the case of olivine systems. However, the shapes of the curves were significantly different from those observed in olivine systems. The observed trend of diffusion coefficients with ionic radius can be explained on the basis of crystal structure-controlled diffusion in akermanite.

OSTI ID:
5979030
Journal Information:
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States), Vol. 55:3; ISSN 0016-7037
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English