Elastic properties of pyrope

Abstract

Brillouin spectroscopy was used to measure the single crystal elastic properties of a pure synthetic pyrope and a natural garnet containing 89.9 mol% of the pyrope end member (Mg₃Al₂Si₃O₁₂). The elastic moduli, c _ij , of the two samples are entirely consistent and agree with previous estimates of the elastic properties of pyrope based upon the moduli of solid solutions. Our results indicate that the elastic moduli of pyrope end-member are c ₁₁=296.2±0.5, c ₁₂=111.1±0.6, c ₄₄=91.6±0.3, K_s=172.8±0.3, μ=92.0±0.2, all in units of GPa. These results differ by several percent from those reported previously for synthetic pyrope, but are based upon a much larger data set. Although the hydrous components of the two samples from the present study are substantially different, representing both ‘dry’ and ‘saturated’ samples, we find no discernable effect of structurally bound water on the elastic properties. This is due to the small absolute solubility of water in pyrope, as compared with other garnets such as grossular.