The amphoteric behavior of water in silicate melts from the point of view of their ionic-polymeric constitution

• Dissolved water displays amphoteric behavior depending on melt composition.
• Water in melts exists as H2Omol, H+ and OH−, similarly to liquid water.
• H+ and OH− correspond to TOH and MOH groups, respectively.
• In already depolymerized melts, water dissolution inhibits further depolymerization.
• Water autoionization offers novel clues for modeling physical properties of melts.

Dissociation of water into protons and hydroxyl ions is a fundamental feature of aqueous solutions. Although it exerts a profound influence on properties of magmas, this autoprotolysis reaction has been hitherto neglected for water dissolved in silicate melts. As made here with an acid–base model, in fact one has to deal with molecular water (H2Omol) and two kinds of hydroxyl groups, bonded or not to network-forming cations (OH and OH−, respectively) in hydrous silicate melts. By mixing cations and anions on distinct sublattices and quantifying the disproportionation of water dissolved in silicate melts into its ionic products, H+ and OH−, we reconcile spectroscopic determinations of water speciation, and highlight the main compositional features involving chemical exchanges between H2Omol, TOH and MOH groups (T and M being a former and a modifier, respectively). In particular, water addition to depolymerized systems, such as basalts, determine a relative predominance of OH− with respect to silicic systems, such that the increase of water concentration tends to immediately limit depolymerization rather than enhance it. This opens new perspectives to the understanding of the chemical control of hydrous magmas and their physical properties, as well as the attainment of saturation in hydrous minerals such as amphiboles or micas, particularly in depolymerized melts.