Temperature Dependence of H2O Solubility in Al‐Free Stishovite

Abstract

Abstract The role of stishovite in transporting water in subducting slabs has been a subject of debate for several decades. Here we investigated stishovite's water solubility and its potential role in water transportation as a function of temperature from 1300 to 2100°C at 22 GPa. Under water‐saturated conditions, high‐quality, Al‐free stishovite single crystals were synthesized with multi‐anvil press, and their water contents were measured using infrared spectroscopy. The H2O solubility in stishovite increases from 128(20) to 521(47) wt. ppm with increasing temperature from 1300 to 1700°C and decreased to 145(26) wt. ppm at 2100°C. The maximum H2O content was about seven times larger than earlier high‐temperature multi‐anvil studies but significantly lower than recent laser‐heated diamond anvil cell and low‐temperature multi‐anvil studies. We suggest that Al‐free stishovite may not be a significant H2O carrier in subducting slabs, at least at the topmost lower mantle corresponding to our experimental conditions.

Keywords

• water solubility in stishovite
• water in deep mantle
• subducting slabs