Temperature-dependent thermal transport properties of carbonate minerals and rocks

Abstract

To address thermal processes involving carbonate rocks, we measured thermal diffusivity (D) of a suite of carbonate minerals and rocks using laser flash analysis at temperatures from ~300 K up to ~1000 K. For different minerals, D was governed by density or unit cell size. Near room temperature, for example, D ranged from 4.36 mm2 s-1 for magnesite to 1.61 mm2 s-1 for calcite. At any given temperature, D decreases from magnesite to dolomite to rhodochrosite to calcite. As temperature increases, D decreases for all samples, with the strongest drop occurring in the interval ~300-500 K. For rocks, mineralogy and porosity were also strong controls on rock D. Calcitic limestones showed proportionally lower D than the mineral, scaling with measured pore fraction, whereas dolomitized rocks produced higher D than calcitic rocks across the interval 300-600 K. Measurements of heat capacity and density were used to calculate thermal conductivity (k) for the suite, and these results show a stronger temperature dependence for k of carbonate rocks and minerals than previous studies, with k decreasing by ~50% between ambient and ~600 K. These results can strongly affect models of the geothermal gradient. Because dolomite conducts heat more efficiently across all measured temperatures than calcite, regions with large proportions of dolomitized rocks may have lower temperatures at depth than those dominated by calcitic carbonates. Additionally, the strong temperature dependence of carbonate rocks introduces the potential for feedback relationships in high heat-producing or thin crust, suggesting that carbonate-dominated crust could have higher temperatures at depth than previously thought. This strong temperature dependence also has implications for the duration of metamorphic events such as metasomatism driving skarn mineralization, or contact metamorphism resulting from intrusion of an igneous body.