Monitoring the crystallization of water-saturated granitic melts in real time using the hydrothermal diamond anvil cell

Abstract

Critical aspects of the crystallization dynamics of H2O-saturated melts of a typical granitic composition as well as granitic melts enriched in lithium (8800 ppm) were investigated in real-time experiments using the hydrothermal diamond anvil cell at 480–700 °C and 220–960 MPa. Complete crystallization of the charges was achieved within 5–118 h with average crystal growth rates ranging from 3 to 41 cm/year for quartz and from 18 to 58 cm/year for alkali feldspars, demonstrating that crystals formed from a silicate melt in the presence of a coexisting aqueous phase crystallize rapidly. The combination of substantial nucleation delays, low nucleation densities, and rapid growth rates for quartz and alkali feldspars led to the formation of euhedral megacrysts of these minerals in the vicinity of clusters comprised of much smaller muscovite or α-spodumene crystals. Subsolidus replacement processes initiated during crystal–fluid interactions after the silicate melt was consumed were directly observed in the experiments. The experimental results underscore the important role of water as a medium for the transport of essential elements such as Si, Al, Na, and K from the silicate melt to the newly formed crystals, and provide important insights into the crystallization of miarolitic pegmatites.