Abstract
Fluids are among the most effective agents for the transport of material in the Earth’s crust and, possibly, the upper mantle. Aqueous, hydrothermal fluids are responsible for the formation of most ore deposits and for much of the control of sea water chemistry. In addition, fluids play a major role in many metamorphic reactions. Prediction of the behavior of radioactive and hazardous waste in hydrothermal environments requires understanding of fluid chemistry. Fluids, as used in the present context, are most often H2O-rich, and are either liquids or, at temperatures above about 400°C, supercritical fluids. These fluids have minor to major amounts of dissolved NaCl and may contain significant amounts of CO2 or CH4. In order to understand processes involving fluids, we need to know the thermodynamic properties of their major and minor constituents, the solubilities of a wide range of minerals, and how those solubilities change with P, T, pH, and \({f_{{O_2}}}\). We must also know their transport properties, such as viscosity and thermal conductivity. A good understanding of fluid properties requires identification of the molecular grouping, or speciation, of elements in fluids and how that speciation changes in response to P, T, and the internal stucture of the fluid as a whole. In this chapter we begin by describing experiments to measure properties of the major molecular constituents, especially H2O, and then examine some of the methods of determining the behavior of minor species.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 John R. Holloway & Bernard J. Wood
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Holloway, J.R., Wood, B.J. (1988). Just fluids. In: Simulating the Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-8028-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-8028-3_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-04-445255-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-8028-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive