The degassing behavior of Au, Tl, As, Pb, Re, Cd and Bi from silicate liquids: Experiments and applications

We investigate the degassing of volatile heavy metals from natural basalt and dacite and synthetic rhyolite melts doped with Bi, Pb, Tl, Au, Re, Sb, Sn, Cd, Mo, As, Cu in Pt capsules over a range of temperatures (1200–1430 °C) exposed to air at 0.1 MPa. We also investigated the effects of ligands on degassing by adding known concentrations of Cl and S. During the experiments concentration gradients normal to the melt/gas interface arose for the trace metals Au, Tl, As, Cd, Re, Bi and Pb, as shown by measurements by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on the quenched glasses. In contrast, erratic concentration gradients occurred for Cu, Mo, Sn, Sb due to the development of compositional cords in the glass for those elements. The diffusivities for Au, Tl, As, Cd, Re, Bi and Pb (in decreasing order of volatility) followed an Arrhenius relationship with log D at 1260 °C varying from −12 to −17. The addition of Cl and S were shown to increase by two-to five-fold the volatilities of all metals, with S having a more profound effect. Diffusivities from the experiments were applied in a bubble growth model to examine the behavior of Tl and Pb in volcanic gases. The Tl/Pb ratio in gases shows much greater variation than can be explained by partitioning and magma composition alone, with diffusion serving to drastically enrich or deplete the Tl/Pb of gases to values significantly different from that of the melt.