SOLUBILITIES OF CARBON-DIOXIDE AND WATER IN RHYOLITIC MELT AT 850-DEGREES-C AND 750 BARS

Concentrations of carbon dioxide and water dissolved in glasses quenched from rhyolitic melts equilibrated with H2O-CO2 fluids at 850-degrees-C and 750 bar were measured using infrared spectroscopy; concentrations of H2O and CO2 in the quenched fluids were measured manometrically. The mole fraction of CO2 in the quenched fluid ranged from 0.06 to 0.91. Concentrations of CO2 in the coexisting rhyolitic melt increased from 23(+/-6) ppm for the sample equilibrated with the most CO2-poor fluid to 515(+/-16) ppm for that equilibrated with the Most CO2-rich fluid. The water content of the melt varied from 0.51(+/-0.06) to 3.34(+/-0.08) wt%. Our results show that concentrations of molecular CO2 and H2O in the glasses obey Henry's Law; i.e., the mole fractions of molecular CO2 and molecular H2O in the quenched melts are proportional to their fugacities in the coexisting vapor. CO2 contents of vapor-saturated melts are not enhanced by addition of water to CO2-rich vapor, contrary to previous reports for silicate melts at higher pressures. The Henrian behavior of CO2 and H2O at low pressure considerably simplifies modeling of the degassing of silicic magmas.