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JOHN W. GRUNER.
ABSTRACT.
INTRODUCTION.
% %
SiO• ............................ 65.46 66.01
AlcOa ........................... 19.12 21.40
CaO ............................ nil 1.74
Na•O ........................... 3.51 10.27
K20 ............................ 11.93 .56
Li20 ............................ n.d. n.d.
Ignition ......................... 0.18 .27
Total ....................... 100.20 100.25
I I
582 JOHN W. GRUNER.
HYDROTHERMALALTERATIONOF FELDSPARS. 583
TABLE 4.
C.C. Of
Re- pH Solution
in Bomb Original
No. MaterialPlaced Acidity sultingafter Tiinme
Acid- Expert- ' Conversion
Product Temp.
in C.
ity ment Days At Recov-
Start ered
some preferred orientation of the larger particles of the natural material though the inter-
planarspacings are exactlythe same. Most conspicuou• examplesof this kind are pyro-
pfiyllite and muscovite.The few lines of montmorillonite
agreewith lines of pyrophyllite
exceptfor (001) near the zero beam. Therefore, great care must be exercisedin comparing
films.
584 JOHN W. GRUNER.
Exclusive'
ofboehmite
A10(O.EI), whichis a dimorph
ofdiaspore,
wedeal
with only five mineralsin our experiments. They are:
K feldspar K A1 Si308, K:AI:Si=i:I:3
Nafeldspar Na A1 Si308, K:AI:Si=0:I:3
pyrophyllite (OH)2 A12 Si4Ox0,K:AI: Si = 0:1:2
muscovite (OH) 2K A13 Si30•0, K: A1: Si = 1: 3: 3
kaolinite (OH) s A14 Si•Ox0,K: A1: Si = 0: 1: 1.
They seemto be the only oneswhichcanexist in the solutionstried, and which
form in the temperaturerangebetween300ø and 525ø C. Quartz, of course,
wouldbe stablebut it is formedin noneof the experiments. The writer, so
far, has obtainedquartz only in experimentsin whichtalc was treatedwith
0.175N or strongerEIC1solutions at 300ø C. in whichtalc is completely
soluble. Evidentlysaturationwas reachedin thesesolutionswith respectto
SiO2. Mg ions,evidently,are not capableof combiningwith SiO• groupsto
form new Mg silicatesin acid solutions. A1 and SiO• ions,on the other hand,
can produceinsolubleand stablecompounds.The SiO• ions are, th.erefore,
withdrawnfrom solutionsufficientlyrapidlythat they cannotreachthe satura-
tion pointnecessary for the formationof quartz. This statementis basedon
the beliefthat quartzdoesnot form directlyfrom colloidalsolutionsof SiO•
but that mineralizersare necessarywhich causeSiO• to ionize, the SiO4
groupsthen formingquartzin eitheracid or basicenvironments•
The end productsin acid solutionsshouldbe differentfrom thoseof neutral
or basiconeswheneverthe acid is capableof leachinglarge amountsof a
constituentandholdingthemin solution. This happensto the alkaliesof the
feldsparswhichcanbe takeninto solutionas longasthe acidityis maintained
and their concentration doesnot exceeda certainmaximum. This explains
the formationof pyrophyllitefrom microclinein experiment160, Table 2.
The reactiontakesplaceaccording to equation(1).
2KA1SiaOs
+ 2HC1-->(OH)•AI•Si•O•o+ 2SiO•+ 2KC1 (1)
HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION OF FELDSPARS. 585
HC1 solutions. The K ion concentrationmust not be much greater than the
amountthat the acid can removefrom the K feldspar. Boehmitemay form
in such a solution if A1 ions are present in excessof those required for
pyrophyllite.
7. If K and Na ions respectivelyare high but no additionalA1 is available
the feldsparsremainunaltered. This is not a true stabilitythoughno altera-
tion was noticedat 400ø C. in 16 days. It is certain that no K feldsparcan
be synthetizedat this temperaturein acidsolution. Muscoviteor pyrophyllite
will be the resulteventhoughthe proportionschosenare thoseof K feldspar.
8. Muscovitewill form readilyfrom feldsparsbeginningat 350ø q- 10ø C.
to 525ø C., the highesttemperaturetried, providedboth K and A1 are in
sufficient concentrations. This reaction occurs also in 0.35 N. HC1 solution.
We know from the experimentsof Noll 2t and thosein Table 3 that mus-
covite also forms in neutral solutionsat as low a temperatureas 200ø C.
O'Neill 22producedit in basicsolutionswhichhad a normalityof 0.01 KOH.
If the solutionsare more basic,however,minerals like kaliophilite or leucite
will result at 300 ø to 400 ø C. Under neutral or somewhat basic conditions
the feldsparsthemselves
may be stableand it is easyto changeNa feldspar
to adulariaby simplebaseexchangeaccordingto O'Neill. This reactionis
reversible.
In experimentsmadeby Friedel, Doelter,Thugutt, Allen, Baur, K6nigs-
berger,M/filler,Niggli, Morey, Fenner,and others, 2smuscovitewasproduced
very rarely becausethe solutionswere commonlyso high in potashand suf-
ficientlybasicthat kaliophillite,leucite,or orthoclaseformed. Experimental
factspointthento the presence of slightlybasicto acidsolutionsas causesof
sericitization.
The alterationof individual feldsparcrystalsto sericiteis in the nature of
leachingof SiO• and the simultaneous additionof AlcOa and I(.•O. If it
were leachingonly the masswould be reducedto one-halfwhile the volume
remained constant, a condition not observed in the field or under the micro-
scope. It is not easyto accountfor the sourceof the addedAlcOain either
acid or slightlybasicsolutions. It couldcomefrom adjoining regionsnow
completelysilicifiedas has beenadvocatedby somestudentsof the'problem.
In this casewe would have simplya movementof SiO2 out of the feld-
spathicareastowardthe centersof silicification and of AltOs in the opposite
direction. I( ionswould travel in the samedirectionas AI•O,. AlcOacould
be carriedas KA10• which has a basicreaction,or as A1Cla'which is acid.
One finds the statementthat carbonateswhich are frequently found in
sericitizedrocks would have been destroyedif the mica had formed in an
acid environment. This would depend,of course,on the partial pressureof
CO2 in sucha system,as well as the concentrationof the metallicions which
usuallyare found in carbonatesin hydrothermallyaltered rocks. It is con-
ceivablethat the reaction CaCO• + 2HC1 --> CaC12+ H•COa proceedsfrom
right to left if the pressureof CO• is very high.
•x Noll, W.: op. cit.
g2 O'Neill, T. F.: Unpublished thesis, University of Minnesota.
•a For abstractssee: Morey, G. W., and Ingerson, Earl: The pneumatolyticand hydro-
thermal alteration and synthesis of silicates; EcoN. Gzo•.. 32: 607-761, 1937.
HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION OF FELDSPARS. 589