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Electrical conductivity of mudstone (before and after dehydration at high P-T) and a test of high conductivity layers in the crust

  • Wenqing Sun , Lidong Dai EMAIL logo , Heping Li , Haiying Hu , Lei Wu and Jianjun Jiang
Published/Copyright: November 30, 2017
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 102 Issue 12

Abstract

The electrical conductivity of mudstone before and after dehydration was measured using complex impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range of 10−1 to 106 Hz, and the experiments were carried out at 0.5–2.5 GPa and 623–973 K. Before and after dehydration, the electrical conductivity of mudstone and temperature followed an Arrhenius relation. The influence of pressure on electrical conductivity was weaker than that of temperature. The conductivity slightly increased with increasing pressure. Dehydration at 760–800 K dramatically enhanced the electrical conductivity of mudstone; the dehydration temperature decreased slightly with increasing pressure. Hydrogen-related lattice defects (e.g., HM′ or H•) are proposed to be the main charge carriers in the mudstone sample before dehydration, whereas H+ and OH− are suggested to be the main charge carriers in the dehydration product of mudstone. Finally, the electrical conductivity of the dehydration product of mudstone can be used to interpret high-conductivity layers (HCLs) associated with the Hope and Porters Pass fault zones in Marlborough, New Zealand.

Keywords: Electrical conductivity; mudstone; high pressure; dehydration; conduction mechanism; high-conductivity layer

Acknowledgments

We thank the editor of Warren Huff and two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive and enlightened comments and suggestions in the reviewing process, which helped us greatly in improving the manuscript. Gong Guohong provided us with significant help in the identification of all the peaks in X-ray diffraction before and after dehydration of the pelite samples. We are also grateful to Aaron Stallard of the Stallard Scientific Editing Company, who helped improve the manuscript’s English. This research was financially supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB 18010401), Key Research Projects of the Frontier Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (QYZDB-SSW-DQC009), “135” Program of the Institute of Geochemistry of CAS, Hundred Talents Program of CAS and NSF of China (41474078, 41774099, and 41772042).

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Received: 2017-3-23
Accepted: 2017-7-28
Published Online: 2017-11-30
Published in Print: 2017-12-20

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Special Collection: Rates and Depths of Magma Ascent on Earth
  2. Multiple-reaction geobarometry for olivine-bearing igneous rocks
  3. Special Collection: Rates and Depths of Magma Ascent on Earth
  4. Eruption style and crystal size distributions: Crystallization of groundmass nanolites in the 2011 Shinmoedake eruption
  5. Special Collection: Nanominerals and Mineral Nanoparticles
  6. The nanocrystalline structure of basaluminite, an aluminum hydroxide sulfate from acid mine drainage
  8. Trace element zoning in hornblende: Tracking and modeling the crystallization of a calc-alkaline arc pluton
  10. Toward the wider application of 29Si NMR spectroscopy to paramagnetic transition metal silicate minerals: Copper(II) silicates
  12. Extraterrestrial formation of oldhamite and portlandite through thermal metamorphism of calcite in the Sutter’s Mill carbonaceous chondrite
  14. Age discordance and mineralogy
  16. Melting relations in the system CaCO3-MgCO3 at 6 GPa
  18. Electrical conductivity of mudstone (before and after dehydration at high P-T) and a test of high conductivity layers in the crust
  20. The solubility of CePO4 monazite and YPO4 xenotime in KCl-H2O fluids at 800 °C and 1.0 GPa: Implications for REE transport in high-grade crustal fluids
  22. Mineralogical, geochemical, and textural indicators of crystal accumulation in the Adamello Batholith (Northern Italy)
  24. Stability field of the Cl-rich scapolite marialite
  26. The equation of state of wadsleyite solid solutions: Constraining the effects of anisotropy and crystal chemistry
  28. An experimental approach to quantify the effect of tetrahedral boron in tourmaline on the boron isotope fractionation between tourmaline and fluid
  30. A qualitative and quantitative investigation of partitioning and local structure of arsenate in barite lattice during coprecipitation of barium, sulfate, and arsenate
  32. The origin of needle-like rutile inclusions in natural gem corundum: A combined EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, and nano-SIMS investigation—Discussion
  34. The origin of needle-like rutile inclusions in natural gem corundum: A combined EMPA, LA-ICP-MS, and nano-SIMS investigation—Reply
  36. New Mineral Names
  37. Errata
  38. Raman spectroscopy of water-rich stishovite and dense high-pressure silica up to 55 GPa
  39. Errata
  40. A new clinopyroxene-liquid barometer, and implications for magma storage pressures under Icelandic rift zones
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2017-6146
Keywords for this article
Electrical conductivity; mudstone; high pressure; dehydration; conduction mechanism; high-conductivity layer

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Special Collection: Rates and Depths of Magma Ascent on Earth
  2. Multiple-reaction geobarometry for olivine-bearing igneous rocks
  3. Special Collection: Rates and Depths of Magma Ascent on Earth
  4. Eruption style and crystal size distributions: Crystallization of groundmass nanolites in the 2011 Shinmoedake eruption
  5. Special Collection: Nanominerals and Mineral Nanoparticles
  6. The nanocrystalline structure of basaluminite, an aluminum hydroxide sulfate from acid mine drainage
  8. Trace element zoning in hornblende: Tracking and modeling the crystallization of a calc-alkaline arc pluton
  10. Toward the wider application of 29Si NMR spectroscopy to paramagnetic transition metal silicate minerals: Copper(II) silicates
  12. Extraterrestrial formation of oldhamite and portlandite through thermal metamorphism of calcite in the Sutter’s Mill carbonaceous chondrite
  14. Age discordance and mineralogy
  16. Melting relations in the system CaCO3-MgCO3 at 6 GPa
  18. Electrical conductivity of mudstone (before and after dehydration at high P-T) and a test of high conductivity layers in the crust
  20. The solubility of CePO4 monazite and YPO4 xenotime in KCl-H2O fluids at 800 °C and 1.0 GPa: Implications for REE transport in high-grade crustal fluids
  22. Mineralogical, geochemical, and textural indicators of crystal accumulation in the Adamello Batholith (Northern Italy)
  24. Stability field of the Cl-rich scapolite marialite
  26. The equation of state of wadsleyite solid solutions: Constraining the effects of anisotropy and crystal chemistry
  28. An experimental approach to quantify the effect of tetrahedral boron in tourmaline on the boron isotope fractionation between tourmaline and fluid
  30. A qualitative and quantitative investigation of partitioning and local structure of arsenate in barite lattice during coprecipitation of barium, sulfate, and arsenate
  32. The origin of needle-like rutile inclusions in natural gem corundum: A combined EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, and nano-SIMS investigation—Discussion
  34. The origin of needle-like rutile inclusions in natural gem corundum: A combined EMPA, LA-ICP-MS, and nano-SIMS investigation—Reply
  36. New Mineral Names
  37. Errata
  38. Raman spectroscopy of water-rich stishovite and dense high-pressure silica up to 55 GPa
  39. Errata
  40. A new clinopyroxene-liquid barometer, and implications for magma storage pressures under Icelandic rift zones
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