Experimental determination of the reactivity of basalts as a function of their degree of alteration

Overview & Synopsis

The element release rates from naturally altered basalts were measured in batch experiments at 27 °C, and in mixed-flow experiments at 25 °C in reactive fluids initially consisting of pH 3 or 4 aqueous solutions. The basalts reacted in this study consist of 1) surface weathered basalts ranging in age up to 13 million years, and 2) hydrothermally altered basalts from zeolite to actinolite alteration zones (temperatures of ∼50 to 300 °C). The in situ pH in the batch experiments increased over time with the final pH of the fluids ranging from to 4 to 8. Most experiments exhibited a preferential release of Ca and Mg compared to Si from the dissolving basalts, both initially and over the long-term. This behavior is attributed to the combination of an initial rapid cation-proton exchange reaction and the relatively fast dissolution rates of Ca-bearing minerals. The BET surface area normalized Si release rates for all of the altered basalts are within one order of magnitude of each other, and from one to two orders of magnitude lower than corresponding rates from fresh basaltic glass and fresh crystalline basalts. This is interpreted to stem from 1) the fast removal of reactive basaltic glass and olivine from fresh basalts during the natural alteration of the rocks, 2) the similarity of the dissolution rates of the remaining albitic plagioclase, pyroxenes, epidote, and zeolites, and 3) the high surface areas of some less reactive secondary minerals such as clays. Overall, the results suggest that altered basalts will be effective in consuming CO2 during both natural and engineered processes, though at a somewhat slower rate than unaltered basalts.