The effect of P2O5 on the viscosity of haplogranitic liquid

Abstract

The effect of P2O5 on the viscosity of a haplogranitic (K2O-Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2) liquid has been determined at 1 atm pressure in the temperature interval of 700 - 1650°C. Viscosity measurements of a haplogranite, haplogranite + 5.1 wt.% P2O5 and haplogranite + 9.5 wt.% P2O5 have been performed using the concentric cylinder and micropenetration methods. The viscosity of haplogranite liquid decreases with the addition of P2O5 at all temperatures investigated. The viscosity decrease is nonlinear, with the strongest decrease exhibited at low P2O5 concentration. The temperature-dependence of the viscosity of all the investigated liquids is Arrhenian, as is the case for P2O5 liquid. The Arrhenian activation energy is slightly lower in the P2O5-bearing liquids than in the P2O5-free haplogranite with the result that the effect of P2O5 on viscosity is a (weak) function of temperature. At temperatures corresponding to the crystallization of phosphorus-rich granitic and pegmatitic systems the addition of 1 wt.% of P2O5 decreases the viscosity 0.2 log10 units. The effect of P2O5 on haplogranitic melt viscosity is much less than that for B2O3, F2O−1 on the same melt composition (Dingwell et al., 1992 and this study). This implies that P2O5 concentration gradients in high-silica melts during, for example, phosphate mineral growth or dissolution in granitic magmas, will not significantly influence melt viscosity