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The effect of oxidation on the mineralogy and magnetic properties of olivine

  • Joseph Knafelc , Justin Filiberto EMAIL logo , Eric C. Ferré , James A. Conder , Lacey Costello , Jake R. Crandall , M. Darby Dyar , Sarah A. Friedman , Daniel R. Hummer and Susanne P. Schwenzer
Published/Copyright: April 26, 2019
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 104 Issue 5

Abstract

Although nucleation of magnetite and/or hematite along dislocations upon oxidation of olivine has been observed by many workers, the effect of oxidation on the magnetic properties of the sample with specific mineralogical alterations has not been studied. Therefore, we investigate this problem using a set of time series 1 bar oxidation experiments at 600 and 900 °C. Results show rapid olivine oxidation and alteration at both 600 and 900 °C, forming magnetite and hematite associated with a change from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic behavior after oxidation. Magnetite and hematite nucleate along dislocations and impurities in the crystal structure, along with surface coatings and within cracks in the crystals.

Fresh, unaltered mantle xenoliths containing magnetite have been interpreted as having formed in cold tectonic regimes in the mantle, rather than through oxidation during or after ascent. Mantle xenoliths rapidly ascend through the mantle with estimates of the ascent of up to 90 km/h (3 GPa/h) based on the diffusion profile of water in mantle olivine. The rates correspond to xenoliths ascending through the mantle over hours and not days or weeks. Our results show that olivine oxidation and alteration can occur in days to weeks at 600 °C and within minutes at 900 °C. Therefore, if the xenolithic material is transported to the surface in a cold magma (at temperatures ≤600 °C), then the timescale of ascent is likely not long enough for oxidation to cause magnetite formation or a ferromagnetic signature to occur. However, if the material is transported in a hot oxidized basaltic magma (with temperatures ≥900 °C), then oxidation can cause magnetite formation and a ferromagnetic signature.

Keywords: Olivine; oxidation; hematite; magnetite; magnetic properties; xenoliths

Acknowledgments and Funding

We thank the support for this project from grant NSF-EAR-1345105 to E.C.F., J.F., and J.C. We thank high school student Muhammad Saad Bin Tariq for help with the electron microprobe work at the Open University (OU) and undergraduate student Kevin Walsh at Southern Illinois University (SIU) for help the project. This work benefited from comments from two anonymous reviewers and Catherine Macris that greatly strengthened and clarified the manuscript. This is LPI contribution no. 2160.

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Received: 2018-09-27
Accepted: 2019-01-09
Published Online: 2019-04-26
Published in Print: 2019-05-27

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2019-6829
Keywords for this article
Olivine; oxidation; hematite; magnetite; magnetic properties; xenoliths

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Uptake and release of arsenic and antimony in alunite-jarosite and beudantite group minerals
  2. Trends in the discovery of new minerals over the last century
  3. Origin of milky optical features in type IaB diamonds: Dislocations, nano-inclusions, and polycrystalline diamond
  4. Zeolite-group minerals in phonolite-hosted deposits of the Kaiserstuhl Volcanic Complex, Germany
  5. Melting curve minimum of barium carbonate BaCO3 near 5 GPa
  6. The effect of coordination changes on the bulk moduli of amorphous silicates: The SiO2-TiO2 system as a test case
  7. Energetics of ethanol and carbon dioxide adsorption on anatase, rutile, and γ-alumina nanoparticles
  8. The effect of oxidation on the mineralogy and magnetic properties of olivine
  9. Phase, morphology, elemental composition, and formation mechanisms of biogenic and abiogenic Fe-Cu-sulfide nanoparticles: A comparative study on their occurrences under anoxic conditions
  10. Static compression of B2 KCl to 230 GPa and its P-V-T equation of state
  11. Geochemical characteristics of lawsonite blueschists in tectonic mélange from the Tavşanlı Zone, Turkey: Potential constraints on the origin of Mediterranean potassium-rich magmatism
  12. Origin of vesuvianite-garnet veins in calc-silicate rocks from part of the Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex, East Indian Shield: The quantitative P-T-XCO2 topology in parts of the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-CO2 (+Fe2O3, F)
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  14. Discovery of asimowite, the Fe-analog of wadsleyite, in shock-melted silicate droplets of the Suizhou L6 and the Quebrada Chimborazo 001 CB3.0 chondrites
  15. New Mineral Names
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