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A composition-independent quantitative determination of the water content in silicate glasses and silicate melt inclusions by confocal Raman spectroscopy

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Abstract

A new approach was developed to measure the water content of silicate glasses using Raman spectroscopy, which is independent of the glass matrix composition and structure. Contrary to previous studies, the compositional range of our studied silicate glasses was not restricted to rhyolites, but included andesitic, basaltic and phonolitic glasses. We used 21 glasses with known water contents for calibration. To reduce the uncertainties caused by the baseline removal and correct for the influence of the glass composition on the spectra, we developed the following strategy: (1) application of a frequency-dependent intensity correction of the Raman spectra; (2) normalization of the water peak using the broad T–O and T–O–T vibration band at 850–1250 cm−1 wavenumbers (instead of the low wavenumber T–O–T broad band, which appeared to be highly sensitive to the FeO content and the degree of polymerization of the melt); (3) normalization of the integrated Si-O band area by the total number of tetrahedral cations and the position of the band maximum. The calibration line shows a ±0.4 wt% uncertainty at one relative standard deviation in the range of 0.8–9.5 wt% water and a wide range of natural melt compositions. This method provides a simple, quick, broadly available and cost-effective way for a quantitative determination of the water content of silicate glasses. Application to silicate melt inclusions yielded data in good agreement with SIMS data.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). The project number is PP002-68687.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Isotope Geochemistry and Mineral Resources, ETH Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Zoltán Zajacz, Werner Halter, Wim J. Malfait & Yann Morizet

  2. Section des Sciences de la Terre, Université de Genève, Département de Minéralogie 13, rue des Maraìchers, 1211, GENEVE 4, Switzerland

    Olivier Bachmann

  3. Department of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0420, USA

    Robert J. Bodnar

  4. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Marc M. Hirschmann

  5. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, A.M.N.H., Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA

    Charles W. Mandeville & James D. Webster

  6. Now at: Laboratory of Planetology and Geodynamic, University of Nantes, 2 rue de la Houssiniere, 44300, Nantes, France

    Yann Morizet

  7. Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Othmar Müntener

  8. Department of Earth Sciences, Institute for Mineralogy and Petrology, ETH Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Peter Ulmer

Authors
  1. Zoltán Zajacz
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  2. Werner Halter
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  3. Wim J. Malfait
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  4. Olivier Bachmann
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  5. Robert J. Bodnar
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  6. Marc M. Hirschmann
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  7. Charles W. Mandeville
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  8. Yann Morizet
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  9. Othmar Müntener
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  10. Peter Ulmer
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  11. James D. Webster
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Correspondence to Zoltán Zajacz.

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Communicated by T.L. Grove

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Zajacz, Z., Halter, W., Malfait, W.J. et al. A composition-independent quantitative determination of the water content in silicate glasses and silicate melt inclusions by confocal Raman spectroscopy. Contrib Mineral Petrol 150, 631–642 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-005-0040-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-005-0040-9

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